A group of government school teachers in Pollachi is providing free coaching to TNPSC aspirants who cannot afford to join private institutes. Every Sunday, a three-hour class (from 10 am to 1 pm), is conducted for the aspirants at Pethanaickanur Government High School where the teachers of different streams — Tamil, Science, Social Science and Mathematics — take turns to conduct classes.
The classes are being conducted after obtaining permission from Headmistress P Umamaheswari. Speaking about the initiative, N Balamurugan, a Tamil teacher, said, "Aspirants from economically weaker sections cannot join private coaching classes. As there are a handful of students in the vicinity, we thought to offer to provide free coaching classes. The idea to teach the aspirants was discussed and teachers from several government schools in Pollachi expressed willingness to chip in."
S Viswanathan, a teacher from Kottur, said that they send study material through WhatsApp from Monday to Saturday. "We provide them with the answers and they have to come up with two types of questions. We usually check those during the classes on Sunday. The papers are usually corrected by students of Classes VI to VII," he said.
The Sunday class begins with a multiple-choice question (MCQ) test for 100 to 150 marks, followed by theory classes. Sharing his experience, P Suryavarshan (19), a college student said, "I aim to become a government officer after my higher education is over. After I heard about this free coaching, I instantly showed my willingness. Teachers are confident that the number of students will increase in the coming days."
