Recruitment of 1,765 lecturers on the cards

The appointment of lecturers was hitherto made through Karnataka Public Service Commission. The Government has withdrawn the authority and decided to fill the vacancies through Centralised Recruitment Cell under the Department of Public Instruction. The draft recruitment rules were published last week and objections, if any, could be filed within 15 days. The selection process would be taken up by issuing a final notification in October, Education Department sources told Deccan Herald.

A special recruitment committee has been formed under the chairmanship of director of Pre-University Education Department. The Centralised Recruitment Cell would conduct the recruitment process under the supervision of the committee. The selection will be through a competitive examination. Candidates would be shortlisted on the basis of their marks in the competitive examination and according to reservation matrix. 

The competitive examination comprises three papers including Kannada, each for 150 marks. The Kannada knowledge expected is of SSLC level and the candidates have to secure at least 50 per cent of the marks in the exam. However, the Kannada examination marks will not be considered for shortlisting. The rest of the two papers are on specific subjects and contain multiple choice questions. Of the 1,765 vacancies proposed to be filled, 1,009 post are of science and commerce streams. Lecturers for only 14 subjects are now being appointed.

Compulsory qualification

The Government had also prescribed BEd as a compulsory educational qualification to apply for lecturer posts and the condition had foiled the job aspirations of a many.

According to several aspirants that the Deccan Herald spoke to, not even 20 per cent of the post graduates possess a BEd degree.

They apprehended that the ‘sudden measure’ would deprive job opportunities to several post graduates. A similar attempt was in 2008 had to be shelved due to stiff opposition from part time lecturers and elected representatives of graduate constituencies.

However, minister for Primary and Secondary Education Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri said on Friday that the criteria would be relaxed. He said the appointments would be made on a condition that the candidates complete BEd course in three years of their selection. A separate course would be designed for commerce graduates/post graduates who cannot pursue BEd course, he added.