Not that Jamia Milia Islamia, a Central University tucked away in southeast Delhi, needs to be extolled. Last year in December the National Assessment and Accreditation Council awarded the university an A++ franking. A year earlier, in 2020, the Union ministry of education ranked it No. 1 among all Central universities in the country.
This year there was added gold dust to burnish the university’s stature. Shaunak Sen, an alumnus of the university won a clutch of international awards including prizes at Cannes and Sundance for his documentary All That Breathes.
This year’s topper Shruti Sharma(centre) with Jamia vice-chancellor Najma Akhtar(second from left)
And then earlier this month came the news that Shruti Sharma secured the first rank in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exams.
Sharma, as many of you have guessed by now, is an alumna of Jamia’s famed Residential Coaching Academy (RCA). Twenty-three aspirants from RCA have qualified for Civil Services 2021. Fifty had qualified for the interview round. Over the past few years RCA has established itself as one of the premier UPSC coaching academies in the country.
This success is nothing new for RCA. Twenty-six students had qualified in 2020, while 2019 saw 27 successful candidates.
“What sets RCA apart from other coaching institutes is the support it provides in terms of preparing a candidate right from the prelims to the mains to ultimately the interview round,” says Suvigya Chandra, an alumnus. Chandra too cleared the 2021 exams securing 394th rank.
Getting into the academy
It is not easy to get into RCA. Over 13,000 aspirants applied for the 150 seats on offer at the RCA in 2021. The academy is looking at 15,000 applicants this year. “We only select the best crop of students from across India which gives us better results,” says Najma Akhtar, Jamia Millia Islamia‘s vice-chancellor.
Every year RCA conducts entrance tests around the country. The test — divided into two parts: objective and subjective — followed by an interview. More than 300 aspirants are selected for the interview round, out of which 150 get the nod for RCA. The candidate-selection process mirrors the UPSC method.
The successful candidates are then brought to Delhi to prime them for the real McCoy.
“We provide them all the facilities, from free lodging at the hostel to free study materials,” says RCA director, Abid Haleem. “They only have to shell out Rs 2,000 per month for food in the hostel,” he adds. The hostel is located within the campus premises.
The preparation
The students usually wake up at 7.30am, have their breakfast and head to the library to read the daily newspapers and brush up their knowledge of current affairs. After that it’s self-study time, be it in the library or in their hostel rooms.
“Mock tests are usually conducted from 11.30am to 12.30pm; also most of the classes take place after 12 noon. We usually had three classes in a day,” says Chandra.
After the classes, the students again go to the library to self-study. They are served dinner at 8.30pm after which they study for sometime before going to bed.
Students are allowed to go outside to seek guidance if they want to.
Lectures by professional teachers, tests and mock interviews are part of the daily routine. Students can access a well-equipped 24/7 library.
“Not only that, we also invite teachers who are acquainted with the UPSC syllabus and exam trends. Ninety-five per cent of the faculty that come here are professionals who are already teaching in some successful coaching institutes,” says Haleem. He teaches history and culture to the students.
“RCA is way ahead of all the coaching institutions present in the country. Teachers from top IAS coaching academies from across Delhi come to teach us. They also provide mentorship,” Chandra says.
The exam
The aspirants sit for the two-part UPSC examinations — prelims and mains. Those who ace the prelims sit for the mains. The successful candidates from the mains exam are then prepared for the interview round.
“To get an edge over other students we invite bureaucrats, professors from various universities to prepare our students for the interview,” Haleem says.
Since 2010, 270 students have cleared UPSC and 403 candidates have been selected for various state public service commissions, Reserve Bank of India, Central Armed Police Forces among others.
What sets the RCA apart
RCA is somewhat unique in the sense that it selects aspirants from four categories — women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and minorities. The religious minorities include Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Jain and Parsis.
There is no reservation and all selected candidates can be from the same category. Merit is all that matters.
If a student fails to get past mains or the interview round it is not the end of the road for them, they are given another chance by the RCA, so that they can prepare for next year’s exam. But one needs to clear the prelims to stand a chance at retention.
Going forward
From this year the aspirants will have to shell out Rs 12,000 for hostel fees per annum.
Initially RCA didn’t even have 100 applicants but over the years it has grown manifold. Vice-chancellor Akhtar is personally looking after the developments at RCA. She stresses on the fact that students should get more services to prepare for the exams and the academy needs funds for it.
“We are looking for more funds from the UGC so that we can give the aspirants better services,” she says.
