Editor,
I wish to draw the attention of the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) and the members of the upcoming TGT viva voce interview board to adopt a truly comprehensive and holistic approach to candidate evaluation.
The commission’s decision to conceal candidates’ names, tribes, and educational qualifications is a welcome and commendable reform. By eliminating even the slightest possibility of conscious or unconscious bias, it reinforces public confidence in the transparency, impartiality, and credibility of the recruitment process. However, to preserve both fairness and meaningful assessment, such anonymity should remain confined only to candidates’ names, tribes, and educational backgrounds during the evaluation.
While safeguarding impartiality, the interview process should also provide candidates with an opportunity to deliver a brief self-introduction without revealing their names or tribes. They should be allowed to share their teaching experience, educational journey, and achievements beyond academic performance. Such an opportunity would enable the interview board to assess qualities that no marksheet can adequately capture: perseverance, resilience, commitment, character, and a genuine passion for teaching.
Candidates who have reached the viva stage come from diverse educational, social, and economic backgrounds. Some have overcome financial hardship, geographical isolation, inadequate educational infrastructure, and immense personal sacrifice to pursue higher education. Others have excelled despite different sets of challenges or within comparatively favourable learning environments. Every candidate’s journey deserves equal respect and careful consideration. Academic records alone should neither create the impression that a candidate is inherently superior nor inferior. Instead, the evaluation should recognise the broader context of a candidate’s perseverance, growth, and potential, acknowledging that examination scores, while important, cannot fully reflect the qualities that define an effective teacher.
A brief self-introduction would also allow candidates to articulate their educational philosophy, commitment to public service, and long-term vision as educators. Such an interaction would help the interview board better understand a candidate’s motivation for choosing the teaching profession, sense of responsibility towards public education, and readiness to contribute meaningfully to the lives of students and to the broader educational system.
Similarly, the five-minute demonstration class, though valuable in assessing presentation skills and classroom delivery, should not become the principal determinant of a candidate’s suitability. Five minutes is simply insufficient to evaluate the depth of subject knowledge, pedagogical competence, emotional intelligence, classroom management, adaptability, integrity, empathy, and professional maturity that distinguish an effective teacher. Great teaching cannot and should not be measured by a brief performance alone.
The evaluation process should therefore accord balanced importance to every dimension of a teacher’s professional profile. Subject knowledge, communication skills, pedagogical understanding, personality, emotional maturity, commitment to education, problem-solving ability, teaching experience, ethical values, and the ability to connect with learners should collectively shape the final assessment. Only such a balanced approach can ensure that the most deserving candidates are identified and selected.
It is equally important to recognise that no single characteristic defines a good teacher. A candidate with exceptionally neat handwriting may not necessarily communicate ideas effectively or inspire young minds. Conversely, another candidate may have less attractive handwriting yet possess exceptional communication skills, empathy, leadership, creativity, and the ability to motivate students from diverse social, economic, and educational backgrounds. Judging candidates primarily on one visible attribute risks overlooking the very qualities that determine success inside a classroom, where inspiration, compassion, adaptability, and effective communication matter far more than appearances.
Teachers do far more than complete a syllabus or prepare students for examinations. They shape character, nurture confidence, cultivate values, and inspire aspirations. Their influence extends far beyond the classroom, often leaving a lifelong imprint on the lives of their students. Selecting such professionals therefore demands an evaluation system that values resilience, integrity, compassion, commitment, competence, and dedication alongside academic achievement.
As the APPSC prepares to select the next generation of teachers for Arunachal, this recruitment presents an opportunity not merely to fill vacancies but to strengthen the very foundation of the state’s education system. The quality of today’s selection will inevitably shape the quality of tomorrow’s classrooms. A truly holistic evaluation process will ensure that the most deserving, capable, and committed educators are entrusted with this vital responsibility.
Therefore, it is pertinent that the APPSC and the esteemed interview board embrace a comprehensive, balanced, and genuinely holistic approach while evaluating candidates during the upcoming TGT viva voce.
A concerned teacher