CHENNAI: Allegations of large-scale irregularities in the evaluation of descriptive papers have emerged after the Tamil Nadu Teachers Recruitment Board (TRB) declared results of the assistant professor written examination on Thursday.
Several candidates claimed that despite scoring high in the objective paper, they were awarded zero or single-digit marks in the descriptive section. One candidate from the Tamil discipline who scored 111 out of 150 in the objective paper was reportedly given zero mark in the essay paper.
Conversely, candidates with lower objective scores were allegedly awarded as high as 49 out of 50 in the descriptive section, altering their final ranking. Candidates said an unusually large number of examinees received ‘zero’ in the descriptive paper.
“How can a candidate who secured over 100 marks in the objective paper get a clear zero in the descriptive, or vice versa? This reflects that the marking was done randomly. TRB is playing with the future of 40,000 candidates,” said G Sivakumar, former president of the TN Government Arts College UGC-Qualified Guest Lecturers Association.
The examination, held in December last year after a gap of nearly 25 years, was conducted to fill 2,708 assistant professor vacancies in government arts and science colleges. A total of 42,064 candidates appeared for the exam across 48 subjects. The written test comprised two papers — a 150-mark subject-specific objective section and a 50-mark descriptive essay paper.
Candidates have demanded that the TRB publicly disclose the evaluation criteria, model answers and marking scheme used for the descriptive paper, and called for a transparent re-evaluation. “After years of waiting, we wrote the exam to get jobs. But the random evaluation has put my career at a crossroads,” said one candidate who scored single digit in the essay paper.
The Guest Lecturers Association also flagged earlier irregularities in the recruitment process, alleging that experience marks of two candidates selected in the first phase for niche subjects were revised after certificate verification. “The discrepancies in the TRB results have similarities with the 2017 Polytechnic lecturer recruitment controversy, and we demand a white paper from the higher education department explaining the evaluation process,” said V Thangaraj, state president of the association.
Higher Education Secretary V Arun Roy said the government had taken note of the complaints. “We have taken note of the complaints on social media and informed the TRB, which is an independent body. It will examine the matter and decide the appropriate course of action,” he said. TRB officials could not be reached for comments.
