Hyderabad: Several candidates who appeared for the TS Teacher Eligibility Test (TSTET) on Friday said that the exam was very difficult as it had many questions that were not in the prescribed syllabus, leading to the very low pass percentage.
A total of 32.68 per cent of candidates who had appeared for Paper-I and 49.64 per cent of candidates who had appeared for Paper-II cleared the exam conducted by the school education department. The results were announced on July 1, and many students are now coming forward with complaints about the exam.
R. Shanthi Sri said for three multiple choice questions in Paper I, two of the options were correct. In two other questions, none of the options were correct, for which all candidates were later given grace marks, but candidates ended up wasting precious time on these questions.
Shanthi Sri added that while the prescribed syllabus for the paper was up to class VIII, questions from the syllabus of up to class X were asked. Paper I was especially tough, she said.
Another candidate, Chetna R., blamed the questions of being higher than the prescribed level for not clearing the exam. She said in Paper I, a logarithm-based question was asked, which is not taught up to class VIII. “People like me from a social science background cannot answer such questions,” she said. She too found the math section ‘very tough’.
Chetna added that the gap between announcement of the exam and the exam dates was only 40 days, which was not enough time for preparations. “The exam was held after five years, so we did not have any idea it would be held this year and hence were not ready for it. We should have been given at least three months for preparation,” she said.
Telangana State United Teachers' Federation (TSUTF) general secretary Chava Ravi said apart from the difficulty of the papers, another issue was the lack of teaching faculty in BEd colleges for the past decade.
“There are very few faculty in colleges, and they are also given additional charge as district education officers (DEO), making it tougher for students. In private colleges too there is no proper teaching. Certificates are issued after writing exams. That is why the pass percentages were very low,” he added.
