Daijiworld Media Network - Mysuru (SP)
Mysuru, Jul 1: The result of the Karnataka State Eligibility Test (KSET) held six months ago is yet to be announced. The undue delay has put candidates in a quandary, as they have been unable to apply for lecturer's post or seek promotion to the post of assistant professor.
University of Mysore has stated that though it is ready with the result, it has not been able to publish the same because of the non-cooperative attitude of University Grants Commission (UGC). Incidentally, CBSE-UGC NET 2017 exam, which is a national-level version of the KSET exam, was held just a month before the KSET exam, and the results were announced on January 2. Now, ironically, CBSE-UGC NET 2018 exam is all set to be held next week, while the result of KSET exam held in 2017 is still awaited.
The KSET examination was held in 11 nodal centres across the state including Bengaluru, Mysuru, Belagavi, Davanagere and Vijayapura on December 31, 2017. As per the UGC guidance, examination was held in a total of 39 subjects including economics, English, Kannada, commerce, social science, biology and mathematics. The candidates who hoped to clear the examination and bag jobs as lecturers, are still waiting for the result.
KSET coordinating officer, Prof H Rajashekhar, says that the university saw to it that KSET examination was held as per schedule in spite of problems like assembly election, continuance of administration continuously under in-charge vice chancellor etc faced by it. He clarified that result was kept ready to be published within five months since the examination was held. However, UGC representative has to attend a meeting that has to approve the result. As soon as the meeting is convened and result is approved, it would be published the very next day, he asserted.
As many as 73,608 candidates had registered themselves for KSET examination, as compared to about 65,000 the previous year. Out of them, around 63,000 applicants appeared for the examination and their wait for the last six months has proved to be futile. Savitribai Phule University Pune, which has permanent accreditation of UGC to hold Maharashtra State Eligibility Test (MHSET), had conducted similar test, and it has been over a month since it came out with the result.
Therefore, KSET candidates are apprehensive of losing out posts to candidates who have cleared MHSET. Academic activities have begun in colleges, and the process of filling up of vacant posts of lecturers has begun. KSET candidates have been unable to apply for these posts. A candidate explained that they may not even be eligible to apply for the posts of guest lecturers, for the appointment of which the state government is expected to issue notification shortly.
KSET is not just an eligibility test for teachers, but also a qualification that makes it easier to get into PhD programmes. A candidate with KSET qualification need not answer PhD entrance test conducted by universities/colleges, and can get direct entry after clearing the interview round. Without KSET results being declared, candidates who did well in the exam and were hopeful of pursuing PhD studies have been forced to answer additional tests by universities they applied for.
The University of Mysore is accredited to hold the KSET examination since 2011. The KSET centre of the university had written to UGC to depute its representative for holding the meeting. But UGC has neither sent information about sending its representative nor has it fixed any date for the meeting. As the candidates have been bringing pressure on the university, the university had written two or three reminders, but none of them have got any response, it is gathered. Some of the students said that if the KSET result was not declared soon, mass protests by the candidates would be the only way out to force the officials to speed up the process.