Aspiring degree college teachers who have fared poorly in the State Eligibility Test (SET) that was held on Sunday can take heart from the fact that they will get another shot at attempting to crack the SET this year in November.
According to officials, the tests will be conducted within short intervals of each other, as the state government had issued guidelines to teachers to either become SET or National Eligibility Test (NET) qualified within two years. Since this is the second year for many of the teachers to qualify, giving them another chance was necessary.
According to Dr D. Harichandan, NET/SET co-ordinator for Mumbai, while the pass percentage for NET had improved, the SET scores remained abysmal. “Teachers aspiring to get NET/SET eligible tend to opt for one of the tests. Since last year, the NET pattern has been changed, as a result of which the pass percentage all over India has seen a huge leap from the regular 4.5 per cent to 12.5 per cent. The SET pattern and scoring system is, however, yet to be changed on the lines of NET, hence the SET percentage of success is low,” Dr Harichandan said.
Referring to last year’s order, in which the HRD ministry had stipulated that teachers have to get NET/SET qualified within two years or four attempts, Dr Harichandan said
that the Pune University decided to give teachers more chances by conducting the SET twice in a year.
However, as the SET pattern was yet to be changed, the exam that was to be held in the first half of the year was instead held on Sunday, August 7. The second exam will be now be conducted on November 27, for which applicants can apply between August 17 and September 14, Dr Harichandan said.
Some teachers are however, not pleased at the prospect of reappearing for the exam in such a short span of time. “I had also planned to appear for the NET that was slated for sometime in December. Now if we have to appear for these tests in rapid succession, when do we do our college duties?” said Sameer Joglekar, a teacher on contract teacher working in a suburban college.
He also pointed out that in case he passed the August exam, he would also lose out on the fees he will have paid for the November exam.
Dr Harichandan though assured that candidates who come out successful in the August exam would get a full refund in case the results are declared before November 27.