Free coaching by Employment and Career Guidance Centre in Salem helps 563 candidates land government jobs over five years

Candidates receiving free coaching at the District Employment and Career Guidance Centre at Gorimedu in Salem. | Photo Credit: File photo A total of 563 people who received free coaching provided by the Employment and Career Guidance Centre in Gorimedu over the past five years have landed government jobs.The centre employs 15 subject-matter experts to coach candidates preparing for various State and Central competitive exams. Between 2021-2022 and 2025-2026, a total of 50 coaching classes were held and 3,523 students attended them. Of these, 51 candidates landed government jobs in 2021-22; 137 in 2022-2023; 218 in 2023-2024; 39 in 2024-2025; and 118 in 2025-2026.Of the 563 candidates, 105 cleared Group II exams, 48 Health Inspector exams, 34 Group IV exams, 11 Sub-Inspector exams, 16 Cooperative Department exams and one candidate cleared Group I exams. A. Sathish Kumar, who cleared Group I exams in 2025-2026, now serves as District Employment Officer (DEO) in the same department.Deputy Director of the Department of Employment and Career Guidance in the district S. Mani said Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay recently handed over appointment orders to the 2,144 candidates who cleared the Medical Recruitment Board (MRB) exams. Of these candidates, 38 had received coaching at the Salem centre.The centre uses the annual planner released by the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) to provide the coaching. Currently, two classes are going on, including the one for the TNPSC Group I exams with 125 candidates.To reduce the burden of rural students, a dedicated team at the IT lab in the centre applies for the exams on behalf of such candidates. “Rural students are unaware of the facilities provided by the Department. We have sought a list of rural school students [in the district] from the Department of School Education and will soon spread awareness on the competitive exams among them, Mr. Mani added.The centre’s faculty members are selected by a committee headed by the Regional Joint Director. For a one-hour of class, a faculty member receives ₹800. For the benefit of the candidates, 2,500 books relating to competitive exams are offered at the library. These apart, the centre also provides seven newspapers to help the candidates keep abreast of current affairs.DEO and former student at the centre A. Sathish Kumar said materials relating to competitive exams are available on TN Career Service Portal and the Thervukalam app. Candidates can also take mock exams on the portal.“Every month we conduct four outreach programmes, especially at schools and colleges in rural areas, to spread awareness on the various competitive exams and services provided by the government to help them clear the tests. The portal and apps have the details of the syllabi for all the exams, Mr. Sathish added. Published - July 24, 2026 08:07 pm IST