A Year-long Series on Education, Sponsored by The Aligarh Forum : – A Mirror on our Efforts, our Successes & our Shortcomings ; Stories of triumphs, tribulations and struggles of the Indian Muslims in improving their educational status, in illiteracy alleviation, and in their professional and social uplift.
By Abdul Basith MA, TwoCircles.net,
Kozhikode: Aligarh Muslim University [AMU] has recently started its off-campus in Malappuram district of Kerala but it is Farook College that has been ‘South India’s AMU’ since it was established in 1942, and it indeed has a serious role to claim in the betterment educational and social status of Muslims in Kerala.
Having started 11 years back Farook College PM institute of civil services examinations is now harvesting the hard work it has paid through out these years by providing systematic training for several higher-level competitive tests, including the Civil Services Examinations for entry into IAS, IPS, IFS, IRS, and IES. It also offers training modules for Indian Statistical Service, Indian Forest Service and Indian Engineering Service examinations.
Mohammedali Shihab [Courtsey: The Hindu, June 13 2011]
In the UPSC civil service examinations held in 2010 Mohammedali Shihab and Dr Ilyas stood top among the rank list and it was indeed a golden feather added to Farook College’s crown on the eve of its diamond jubilee celebrations. Mohammedali Shihab appeared for the civil service main exam for the first time in October 2010 and his optional subjects were history and literature.
The striking feature of Shihab’s achievement was that he selected Malayalam as the medium of language for writing the mains examination. He stood 226th in the rank list and is sure to be selected for IAS. Dr KP Ilyas a dentist by profession ranked 404 in the list of successful candidates and is hopeful of getting in to either IPS or IRS. Earlier he had qualified the exam and selected the Indian Information Service, but because of reservation case pending before the court, he couldn’t join the service.
Meanwhile Ashik Karattil secured third Rank in the Indian Economic Service Examination 2009 conducted by the UPSE and he ranked first in Kerala. Earlier in 2008, Ayesha Rani A and Jerin G Anand had secured 139 and 317 ranks respectively in the civil service examinations. Ms. Ayesha Rani was working as senior technical officer at ICICI bank, Kozhikode and Mr. Jerin G Anand was an officer in the intelligence bureau at Jammu when they both qualified the exams. At least 10 students from the institute have been clearing the preliminary exams regularly on a yearly basis.
The institute invites applications for the residential coaching programme beginning in July, by around April. The young aspirants are selected for the coaching programme by screening through admission test and interview. Though the coaching programmes are residential, candidates who find it difficult to join the residential programme will be permitted off-campus enrolment on conditions.
As the pattern for the Prelims Examination has been changed recently by the introduction of Civil Service Aptitude Tests [CSAT] the institute had already anticipated such changes in the syllabus and have undertaken necessary preparations for giving timely and updated coaching to its students.
The trend in the option selection have stayed as such without much variations since years but by around 2013, the mains too are expected to undergo changes as the UPSC have decided to make the mains exams an aptitude test as well.
Kozhikode District collector PB Saleem honouring Ashik Karattil
There are 32 students in the Prelims batch including senior students and around 80 students in the foundation batch. The most admirable fact is that there is a high percentage of Muslim girls enrolled in to both this programmes and this shows their longing to get in to the most prestigious administrative positions of the country. The percentage of girls have stayed more than half taking into consideration the number of students enrolled under different courses in the college and the case is not different with the PM institute as well.
“Though the awareness and passion towards civil service exams is better now; most undergraduate students’ feels like going for IT related jobs and are reluctant towards civil service exams keeping a mindset that, ‘it is a mammoth task’. The IT companies might well pay them at around 60 or 70 K but after extracting the maximum out of them, they will be dumping them somewhere. Through their success in competitive exams like civil service besides earning they could turn out to become the power brokers of the nation by getting in to the administrative services and at present in Kerala, Farook College is the only institution running a civil service coaching centre with in its campus. The lack of awareness which is still prevalent in the Muslim dominated Malabar region of Kerala is indeed a challenge before us”, said director of the institute Dr Nasirudheen, talking to TwoCircles.net.
The case is different with a few other students who have immense passion for civil services as with their case they are always obstructed by financial constraints. To tackle this paradox, in such cases the institute has undertaken some sincere attempts to present their case before the PM institute which could fund them on a interest-free loan basis and they will be obliged to pay it back only after getting in to the service.
Expect for a few, most of the students enrolled in the prelims batch are from the middle class or upper middle class families of Malabar. The PM institute and Farook college management has taken in to consideration difficulties faced by such needy poor students and this time four female students and a male student has been reimbursed with the fees which they paid to the institute, as they later met with financial constraints in pursuing their studies. A few more such cases of students in the prelims batch have been sent for the consideration of the PM foundation.
The foundation sanctions scholarships/financial assistance on a yearly basis to around 10 students and the Farook College management is also giving financial support to the poor and needy students by granting full fees concession, free boarding and lodging as well. Few students having good calibre and who went unsuccessful in their previous attempts of civil service examinations are allowed to continue in the present batch by exempting from the payment of fees.
The faculty members include experts in subjects like general studies, general science [Biology, physics, chemistry], English essay and comprehensions, mental ability and statistics, Indian polity and public, Indian economy, public administration, Indian history, geography and Malayalam. As and when the classes are over by the end of January, at least 28 model tests are conducted according to the revised pattern, the exams would continue until a week before the preliminary exams starts.
PM institute
Reading room and library are made available exclusively for the civil service students giving them access to most of those news papers and periodicals. Besides they have access to the main Abussabah library of Farook College as the institute is located within its campus just opposite to the library. Lady students will be escorted by the women’s hostel matron to and fro from the library to the hostel as library will be kept open until 8 pm in the night. 10 books will be issued to each student at a time from the college library.
Daily news paper analysis session is conducted by the students to analyse and maintain a dairy of news items regarding national and international events. Seminars, presentation of papers on general issues, symposiums on selected topics too are conducted after the regular class works and on Saturdays. Civil service trainees are given amble chance to have interaction with experienced and excelled civil service persons.
The foundation course is basically for the undergraduate students [the 1st, 2nd and 3rd year Bachelors degree students] with the intension of imparting the essential skills in communication, personality development, reasoning and mental aptitude. The course package besides provides a basic knowledge regarding the areas to be covered and it helps them to develop a scientific and systematic approach towards such competitive examinations. Objective type monthly tests, group discussions are also arranged for them.
The institution has not received any financial assistance from any agencies other than PM foundation and Farook College management. The founder of the institute is Dr P Mohammed Ali, Managing Director, Gulfar Group, Muscat.
Contact: Director, P.M. Institute of Civil Services Examination, Farook College P.O, Kozhikode-673 632
The institute can be reached on 0495 2440660/61, Dr Nasirudheen [Director]: +91 9249747011, Ashif KP [Academic councillor]: +91 9846457273
Email: [email protected] or [email protected]
Link:
http://www.farookcollege.ac.in/main/PMICSE.asp