One just feels aghast by the fact that in 2017 there were 11 posts of junior scale officers advertised and applications sought and two years later, four of the posts are still not filled, as there are not enough candidates who have been able to clear the first hurdle to selection, which is a Computer Based Recruitment Test (CBRT). The story does not end there, but it continues with a repetition. The first time the posts had been advertised, just one candidate was recruited. The remaining 10 vacancies were re-advertised and six candidates cleared the final round. The four remaining have been advertised yet again, and just four candidates have cleared the first test. They will now answer a written test followed by an oral interview before their selection can be confirmed.
In a State where youth queue up for government jobs, not many are able to make it when it comes to a competitive test. This, after earlier failures had led the GPSC chairman to advise candidates to come prepared for the exams. Obviously, the young aspirants did not pay heed to this. But consider what happens when the selection is not done through competition. The GPSC only conducts recruitment process for certain cadres, while the vast government workforce is usually absorbed through the political system. That may change now once the Staff Selection Commission is constituted and begins the process to recruit at other levels.
This brings to mind another recruitment test in the Accounts Department last year, where 8,000 candidates appeared for the 80 posts of accountants and not a single candidate could obtain the minimum required marks to clear the initial exam. When the result of that test was released, there were questions raised on whether the test paper was too tough or there was some fault with the correction pattern. It had then been clearly stated that it was neither. As candidates falter yet again at the first hurdle towards recruitment, there appears to be something wrong with the quality of the graduates that Goa produces, who appear to be not capable of answering competitive exams.
The fact that just four candidates passed Sunday’s test for the junior scale officer is undoubtedly a reflection on the appalling quality of education in the State, which raises a series of questions, the main one being what are the graduates that our colleges are churning out year after year capable of? This is a wakeup call for Goa University, and all colleges under it, to sit up and take note of. When there are failures such as this, it is not just the candidate who has failed, but the entire education system that prepares them to face the future. This does call for an education revamp in the State.
It is a known fact that Goan students do not perform well at competitive exams at the all India level. They are now found to be failures at similar tests at the State level too. Yet, every year the pass percentage at the SSC and HSSC level increases, and students also get higher marks. So what goes wrong at the later stages of higher education? Is it at this stage that there is a fall in standards? Some answers have to be found, as the required changes would then have to be introduced to make Goan youth capable of standing on par with their counterparts in the rest of the country.
With just four candidates clearing the CBRT for the four posts of junior scale officers, there now exists the possibility of some of the posts remaining vacant yet again, necessitating that they be re-advertised. It is a sad state of affairs when for three years a State cannot find 11 persons who are capable of functioning at the middle level of government bureaucracy. This should not continue.
