Editor,

I would like to gain attention of the APPSC to ensure that the upcoming TGT exam paper is set at a standard expected of a graduate teacher recruitment examination.

In the last PGT Mains exam, candidates were dumbfounded in disbelief to find questions such as “What is the capital of India?”, “What is the national animal of India?”, “What is the national flower of India?”, “What is the currency of India?” and General English questions of  “___ is your birthday?”,  “___ apple a day” etc. And mind you, it was not two or three, but as many as 50 questions of this level. Such questions may be set for school going children, not for selecting graduate or postgraduate teachers.

What is the purpose of spending months studying Geography, History, Polity, Science, Pedagogy, English, Current Affairs, if the examination ultimately asks questions that any illiterate person will also know? This kind of casual set ups really does disservice to every serious aspirant when even half a mark may also decide the selection. How does such a paper distinguish between a serious candidate and a casual candidate?

The upcoming TGT examination is even more crucial because the written examination carries 450 out of 500 marks. In other words, this single examination will largely decide who gets selected. Therefore, the standard of the paper matters enormously.

If any of the commission members reads through this writing kindly look into this matter seriously. We are not asking for an impossible paper. We are only asking for a paper that genuinely tests knowledge, aptitude, reasoning and understanding. A graduate teacher examination should look like a graduate teacher examination.

I hope APPSC avoids repeating the past instances and really work on this suggestion to select candidates best fit for the service.

A TGT Aspirant