PANJIM: The poor show by candidates at the recently-held Computer Based Recruitment Test (CBRT) for recruitment to the posts of Junior Scale Officers has raised questions on youth preparedness to appear for such examinations.
Around 101 candidates, who cleared the pre-screening test last month out of 3,700 applicants, answered the CBRT held on December 13. Just three have made it to the next round.
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Herald spoke to a few experts, who strongly opined that competitive exams are essential to choose quality talent to serve in government offices. “Passing or failing depends on a candidate’s preparation. It (CBRT) is a fair and transparent method of selecting quality candidates. To pass any exam, a candidate should thoroughly prepare,” retired High Court Judge Justice R M S Khandeparkar told Herald.
A veteran in the field of education, who requested anonymity, said competitive exams enable good and employable candidates, giving no scope for corruption. “The GPSC exams are on the lines with Union Public Service Commission (UPSC). Candidates taking tests for various posts of higher ranking will also have a fair idea about their preparation and performance. While we get quality candidates, online score exams have no scope for corruption,” he said.
The expert, who has returned to Goa on retiring from a noted university in Delhi, admitted that CBRT exams are leading to fewer candidates prompting re-advertising of posts, but also conceded that recent recruits are better than most of those recruited before the introduction of CBRT.
Interestingly, the State government is considering circumventing the Goa Staff Selection Commission while recruiting for some of the 10,000 jobs, which will be advertised next year.
The educationist apprehends that direct recruitment will allow manipulations. “We understand that subjecting candidates to CBRT before written and oral tests is difficult but at the end, the State gets quality employees. On the contrary, direct recruitments will give rise to manipulations. Without public exams how can you expect candidates to occupy different public posts? But unfortunately people are not preparing for exams,” he said, questioning transparency in the direct recruitment process.
Jayant Budkuley, former GU Registrar, on being asked about the poor CBRT results, maintained that it reflects the quality of education in the colleges. “It is directly reflecting on the quality of education imparted in colleges across Goa. Secondly, the earlier generation enlightened on the day-to-day affairs, political development and all other activities that proved beneficial for exams. I really doubt that even 20 per cent of our present generation is doing so. I believe that this type of exams (CBRT) are normally not based on academic syllabus as it also includes general knowledge and issues pertaining to the country and the world. The present generation is lacking in that,” he opined.
The veteran asked students to keep themselves well informed about happenings across the world so as to survive in the competitive world, besides studying the academic curriculum.
Experts have also argued that toning down the standard of CBRT “just to accommodate other candidates” will be unfair. One of them said, “It is the candidates who have to raise their standard.”
Many experts have also dismissed the idea of direct recruitment to other posts in government departments arguing that the people will suffer.
GPSC has already done away with negative marking after it was first introduced in the JSO exam in 2017. At that time only five candidates out of over 1,000 who appeared for the CBRT managed to enter the second round being a written test, while only one cleared the final interview round. However, the CBRT that was simultaneously introduced continues to be an important part of the overall recruitment process, but with no negative marking since then.
