The revision of syllabus for the objective-type test conducted by the Kerala Public Service Commission (PSC) for the post of assistant professors and high school assistants has come in for harsh criticism from experts.
As per the new syllabus, the examination comprising 100 objective type questions will have 70 per cent of the questions from the core subject area, while the remaining 30 per cent of the questions will be from a wide range of topics such as Indian Constitution, renaissance in Kerala and general knowledge.
Only questions from the core subject area were included in the earlier format.
“The revised syllabus will not benefit candidates having thorough knowledge of the subject concerned. An aspirant for the post of assistant professor in Chemistry should have in-depth knowledge of the subject and not of Indian Constitution and Kerala renaissance,” said K. Girish Kumar, senior faculty of Applied Chemistry at the Cochin University of Science and Technology (Cusat).
But the PSC authorities have defended the change in the syllabus. Saju George, Controller of Examinations, pointed out that the commission was concerned about a growing trend, where candidates lacked knowledge especially in those areas related to their home State.
“For example, members of an interview board asked an aspirant for the post of Assistant Surgeon (who won high marks in the test) about how to tackle the issue of iron deficiency in coastal areas of the State. The candidate recommended a few fruits, which were not even available in the State. This showed that the aspirant had little knowledge about his own State,” Mr. George said.
‘Unscientific’Terming the PSC decision to revise the syllabus as unscientific, P.S. Sreejith, former director of the Institute of Human Resources Development (IHRD), said such a format could be justified if the government was able to provide jobs to maximum candidates in the State itself. “Moreover, an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering need not teach Indian Constitution as there is already a teacher for humanities in engineering colleges,” he said.
Rajan Varughese, former pro-vice chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University, said subject specialisation remains the key factor for selection of teachers in the higher education sector unlike the civil service examination where multiple skills of the candidate need to be assessed.
“The PSC decision will only help private coaching centres to thrive, as candidates appearing for the post of assistant professor will join for classes in Indian Constitution and Kerala Renaissance,” he said.
