If you had prepared for the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) entrance examination, Paper-I of the Group-I Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) examination would have been more or less a cakewalk. At least this was the opinion of a good section of the candidates who wrote the examination on Friday.
Further, the analytical level of the examination, which was held at 14 centres in the city on Friday, has increased sharply compared to last year. This left a considerable number of candidates struggling to complete the examination within the allotted time.
“I was surprised at the increased analytical level of the examination,” said Archana, who was among the 1,372 candidates to write the exam on Saturday. “In fact, the footprint of the UPSC has been amplified. If one had prepared for the UPSC exam, this would have been a relatively easy outing,” she opined. She added that the queries of factual nature in the exam had registered a decrease. Another candidate, Kamal, who echoed similar sentiments, said the emphasis on current affairs was greater. According to him the nature of questions were such that he ended up writing the exam until the last minute. “Finishing the exam was difficult. Most questions involved a certain degree of thinking,” he said. He added that this was in continuation with the exam patterns at the preliminary level itself. The examination was for 300 marks, and comprised three sections: 30 questions of three marks each, fifteen questions of eight marks each, and six questions of 15 marks each.
Concurring that the changes introduced have been rather new, Shankar, director of a private IAS coaching institute, welcomed the changes. He explains that earlier there was little emphasis on understanding and all candidates had to do was memorise and reproduce facts on paper. “Now, candidates are forced to think, which I feel, is a welcome change. There is always an emphasis on better understanding.”
Meanwhile, speaking to Express TNPSC Chairman A Navaneethakrishnan said 84 per cent of the candidates who were provided hall tickets turned up to write the examination. “As many as 115 persons were absent,” he said. The examinations are being held to fill 25 posts in Group-I, including deputy collector, deputy superintendent of police and district registrar. He added that preparations are in full-swing for the Group-II examinations, which will be held in December. Paper-II and III of the examination will be held on Saturday and Sunday.