Kuber Adhikari, a well-known internet personality, is an Intellectual Quotient (IQ) tutor for the Public Service Commission’s examination. He has been working as a teacher for approximately ten years. His expertise in teaching material related to the intellectual quotient has earned him the title of ‘IQ King’ in the online community.
Adhikari was born and brought up in Dailekh, Karnali Province. This was also where he went to school. Due to political disturbance in 2000 during the Maoist insurgency, his entire family had to move to Kathmandu. From a very young age, he was intelligent and studious. He had always intended to become an engineer. But due to financial constraints to sustain in the capital, he chose to become an army officer instead.
For the post, he had to prepare for the commission’s exam. That year, he put his heart and soul towards the preparation. He and his friends were taking the test at the same time. In the middle of the examination, he was stopped by the invigilator for helping out his friend. “My dreams came to an abrupt end,” he says.
In the Public Service Commission, intellectual quotient subjects are a part of the selection process. But there weren’t many teachers or resources available in the early years because the IQ program was new in Nepal. Keeping that in mind, he and his friends decided to start their own private preparation center in Baneshwor, Kathmandu, in order to put their collective experience to good use. “I wasn’t planning on teaching for a long time,” he says. But the heartfelt praise from his students persuaded him to reconsider. Later, he realized that he enjoyed teaching and chose to continue.
Back in his days, not many people aimed to get into public service. But that changed after 2015, with many people showing interest in it. With that, the number of students looking for coaching classes grew, which fueled Adhikari’s drive to teach. He once traveled to Dhankuta for Public Service’s orientation in 2017 which was organized by Chintang Rural Municipality for the students who can’t afford paid classes. There, he found that students used to travel three hours by foot to get to the coaching center. He says he finally understands peoples’ desire to get into public service.
Additionally, he felt obligated to facilitate the learning process in all parts of Nepal. As a guest instructor, he has visited about 57 districts for orientations. He says that not every district has proper access to needed study materials or information. However, he says that some districts are working on offering free classes to tackle the situation.
When students have to come to Kathmandu, their expenses become high. They need to pay for services like hostels, food, class and transportation. To ease their situation, he decided to help people collectively by sharing his classes videos on YouTube channels like ‘IQ Kuber Adhikari’ and ‘Teach for Nepali’ (personal account) for which he has also earned YouTube’s Silver Play Button. He has written a number of books for students’ convenience, including ‘All in one IQ’. It’s one of his bestselling books in the market.
“Youth involvement in the Public Service Commission has grown tremendously,” claims Adhikari. According to him, lack of job opportunities in the private sector could be the main reason behind this popularity. In addition, he says that the deeply ingrained belief in Nepali society that employment stability comes from either government agencies or by going abroad might have contributed to this growth.
He states that working at governmental agencies guarantees a secure career. Even during the Covid-19 pandemic when private sectors faced severe financial setbacks, government workers were receiving paychecks.
According to him, in terms of building a career, teachers are like guardians for students and he strongly believes that teachers should create a friendly space where students can ask anything without hesitation. “Teaching is difficult, as it’s not always about teaching for the sake of teaching. Rather it’s about engaging with students to help them understand better,” he adds. He says that his best achievement as a teacher is the fact that he has never once heard his student complain about his classes being boring in his 10 years of teaching career.
Most people nowadays depend on online platforms for studies. So he is working on improving and modernizing teaching methods using digital platforms and social media. “The app ‘Ambition Guru’ was developed by our team with the aim of aiding students in their preparation for various exams, including those for public service, as well as medical and engineering entrance exams, among others,” he says.
Adhikari draws attention to the struggles of people in rural areas as they don’t have proper access to educational materials to prepare for public service’s examination. For such areas, besides physical classes, he and his team are working on developing innovative ideas for simple learning by making significant investments. He emphasizes that the government needs to be responsible enough to ensure proper internet connection and communication all across Nepal. He expects the government to work on budget allocation for e-learning and different free teaching programs.
