Welcoming top rankers to serve the nation, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has recently declared the results of Civil Services Examination, 2017 (CSE-2017). Hyderabad’s Durishetty Anudeep topped the examination, while Anu Kumari (Haryana) and Sachin Gupta (Haryana) bagged the second and third position respectively. Interestingly, top ten rankers belong to eight different states including Telangana, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, U.P and Rajasthan.

Deciphering this year’s results, it’s not only this diversity that comes out, but also the number of students who made it into the final list from remote areas of the country has increased significantly, giving another dimension to the internet boom. Traditionally, aspirants from across the country had only two choices - either relocate to one of the select few coaching hubs or study from a local, typically sub-par teacher in their own town. Breaking this conviction, the digital wave is enabling more and more aspirants to use technology for exam preparation.

Let’s take the example of Ilma Afroz. She belongs to a small town named Kundarki in district Moradabad, UP. At such a remote place, there are no options of quality education. Back-lifted by technology, Ilma assisted her civil services preparation with online courses from the ed-tech platform NeoStencil. Her grit, hard-work and use of technology enabled her to secure all India rank 217.

It’s not only the story of Ilma. NeoStencil proclaims that two ranks in top ten (AIR three & nine), and nine out of top 100 ranks in this year’s results chose to study through its online courses. Overall, 120 candidates were online students of NeoStencil, and more than 500 aspirants have successfully overcome the final hurdle of UPSC with the help of NeoStencil’s partner teachers - including their classroom programs.

Such increasing number of selections from the online mode is a testimony to the fact that online classes for UPSC exam have emerged as a strong alternative to the traditional preparation methodology. Companies like NeoStencil provide aspirants easy and seamless access to the best teachers without the need to relocate or face the hassle of tiring travel.

“Technology is bridging huge gaps in the education sector in India and making countless dreams come true. It gives us immense satisfaction that out there we are solving the right problems for right people as our students from over 400 cities and small towns have accessed our online courses and half of them had annual parental income less than 300,000,” says Kush Beejal, Co-Founder & CEO, NeoStencil.  

Even students who reside in coaching hubs see value in online education. Saumya Sharma (AIR -9) chose NeoStencil’s online courses despite belonging to Delhi. Doing so, she was able to save travelling time and avoid waiting for teachers to start classes.

“I enrolled myself for ethics test series by S. Ansari sir on NeoStencil. Timely evaluation and feedback provided by Sir were instrumental in my selection. Also, as major coaching centers are very far from my home, NeoStencil proved to be a boon for me and I could access the tests right from my home”, says Saumya Sharma. In addition to online ethics test series, Saumya was also enrolled under online interview program where she appeared for mock interviews with Swati Mahajan, another partner teacher at NeoStencil. Being physically disabled with a hearing impairment did not stop Saumya from succeeding with flying colors and cracking UPSC 2017 with AIR-9.

Kush adds, “We at NeoStencil are super excited that we were able to support students like Saumya Sharma in fulfilling their dreams of becoming an IAS officer. Last year over 100 selections in UPSC were our online students including AIR five & nine. This consistent track record is a testimony to not only our live-learning platform but also the quality of teachers we enable on our platform”. A live-learning platform, NeoStencil is startup founded by alumni from AIIMS, IIT and IIMs, which connects India’s best teachers’ classrooms with students across India.

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