Scam impact: Panel to oversee teacher recruitment exam in districts

Hit by scams in various recruitment exams, the state government has promised to beef up surveillance for the teacher exam scheduled for later this month.

The Department of Primary and Secondary Education will be holding the exam on May 21 and 22 to recruit teachers for classes 6-8, at government schools across Karnataka.

The exam is highly coveted because it provides the gateway to a secure job with a decent salary. The exam will be held at 435 centres across the state. As many as 1,06,083 candidates have applied for the exam. The social science subject has seen the most applications with 50 people applying for every post.

Addressing a news conference here on Tuesday, Primary and Secondary Education Minister B C Nagesh promised “election-level security” for the exam.

At the district level, the exam process will be overseen by a three-member committee consisting of the deputy commissioner, the superintendent of police and the zilla panchayat chief executive officer.

The committee will not only monitor the entire process but also take stringent action if any government official is involved in any irregularities, Nagesh said.

Officers ranked above the tahsildar will be posted at every exam centre. Every room will have CCTV cameras, which will be monitored by the three-member committee, he added.

While there will be no dress code, candidates will not be allowed to carry mobile phones or other electronic gadgets, including wristwatches, into the exam hall. Wall clocks will be installed in all examination halls.

Candidates have been asked to reach the exam centre an hour before the scheduled time as there will be a three-level screening: (i) by the police at the entrance of the building, (ii) by education department officials at the entrance of the exam hall and (iii) the third screening will take place half an hour before the start of the exam inside the hall.

“There will be metal detectors at every centre. A detailed SOP will be issued after May 16,” Nagesh added.