Bhubaneswar, Nov. 3: The state government is planning to open coaching centres for youth preparing for civil services and other competitive exams.

There is a proposal to set up four centres to provide the aspirants with free coaching and other facilities such as Internet access and e-study materials. These centres are supposed to come up in Bhubaneswar, Berhampur, Balasore and Sambalpur. They will not be attached to any university or college.

A final decision regarding this will be taken in a meeting of finance department and the planning and coordination department this week.

Out of about 10,000 Odia candidates, who appear for the civil services exams every year from the state, barely 15 qualify. According to experts, poor communication skills have remained one of the major concerns for them.

"The performance in civil services hasn't been very good in the state and lack of written and spoken communication skills remains a major concern," said Linu Chayani, director of one of the oldest coaching centres from civil service examination in the state.

"About 70 per cent of the students who take these exams are from Odia medium schools and are not as good as their counterparts in English medium schools. Those who can afford better coaching centres move to places such as Delhi, but a good number of students cannot afford to do so.

For example, if 10,000 Odia candidates appear for the preliminary exam, only about 100 get selected for the mains. Of these only about 15 clear the viva, said an expert.

"The mains require the candidates to answer the questions in minimum words not crossing the word limit. It is here where the written communication is required," said Hardaman Singh, executive director of a city-based civil services coaching academy.

"Similarly, those who clear the mains get screened at the viva that requires good spoken skills that our students lack," he said.

Fourteen Odia students got through the Civil Service Examinations 2014 conducted by the Union Public Service Commission - one of the highest in recent years.

The numbers, however, continue to be insignificant compared to that of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and states in south India where a huge number of students qualify every year.

The poor performance of Odia students has also been attributed to the lack of proper coaching facilities in the state. Unlike other states, the state government does not have a single coaching institute dedicated to civil services.

While students from affluent families often enrol into private coaching centres, poor meritorious children lack the option of getting trained by experienced teachers.

"The state government must tie up with coaching institutes in and outside the state so that the economically weak students can be trained," said Manisha Gupta, an aspirant.