New Delhi, 02 May, 2018: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has recently declared the results for Civil Services Examination, 2017 (CSE-2017). The 990 toppers are well spread out across the country. For example, just the top 10 rankers belong to 8 different states.
Traditionally, aspirants from across the country had two choices – either relocate to Delhi, the coaching mecca for IAS preparation, or study from home – with typically a sub-par teacher in their own town.
The digital wave in India is enabling more and more aspirants to use technology for exam preparation. The core benefits include saving travel time, and removing the need to relocate. The online model was not that common till a few years ago because students felt that the online platforms did not provide quality education. However, with education technology companies starting to focus on quality as much as the user experience, the trend is changing drastically.
Ilma Afroz, All India Rank 217, a resident of a small town named Kundarki in district Moradabad (UP), had no options of receiving quality education near her. Ilma prepared for her civil services examination with online courses.
Even students who reside in coaching hubs see value in online education including better time management. Saumya Sharma, AIR 9, chose online courses despite belonging to Delhi.
Ilma and Saumya are among over 120 toppers who took online courses on ed-tech start-up NeoStencil to assist the preparation. As per Kush Beejal, Co-founder and CEO of NeoStencil, “Our consistent track record year after year (100 online selections in 2016, and over 120 in UPSC/CSE 2017) shows that we are able to solve a real problem faced by exam aspirants using technology.”
If other online players in civil services preparation segment such as Byju’s, Unacademy and OnlineTyari are included, the total number of online selections is bound to go up. This is a testimony to the fact that online classes for UPSC exam have emerged as a strong alternative to the traditional classroom preparation.
Such ed-tech startups are aiding digital inclusive education and bridging the gap between haves and have-nots by providing aspirants easy and seamless access to quality education.
