Now UPHESC question bank for recruiting asst profs in degree, PG colleges

Allahabad-headquartered Uttar Pradesh Higher Education Services Commission (UPHESC) has now started an exercise to prepare a comprehensive question bank for the recruitment exams conducted by it.

Allahabad-headquartered Uttar Pradesh Higher Education Services Commission (UPHESC) has now started an exercise to prepare a comprehensive question bank for the recruitment exams conducted by it.

The move comes at a time when UPHESC is gearing up to conduct recruitment exam for filling 1150 posts of assistant professors of 35 subjects in November 2018, exact date of which is yet to be announced. (Representative image)

The step is being taken by the commission after taking lessons from the past recruitment exams conducted by it when it drew flak for asking wrong questions and was forced to undertake re-evaluation of answer-sheets on court orders.

Delayed recruitment

UPHESC had accepted online application against 1150 posts of assistant professors of 35 different subjects advertised in advertisement number 47 in June 2016. It had received a whopping around 50,000 applications. However, the recruitment could not take place first because of lack of adequate members required to complete the quorum needed for a meeting and later due to notification of the state assembly elections 2017 getting issued.

Even after the new state government took charge, a move to merge UPHESC and UP Secondary Education Service Selection Board (UPSESSB) led to further delay. Later, this move got shelved and the state government appointed new chairman and members to the commission in February 2018 which has now allowed it to start preparation for holding recruitment exams once again.

“The plan is to have a comprehensive question bank of well-vetted questions and their answers that we can rely upon for the recruitment exams conducted by us. The questions for any particular recruitment exam would be selected as per the need based on moderation from this question bank,” said secretary, UPHESC, Vandana Tripathi while confirming the step. She said the commission wanted to prepare the question bank at the earliest.

“For getting the proposed question bank ready, help of experts from different higher educational institutions of Uttar Pradesh as well as other states is being taken. However this is a time taking effort as we want to take all care in ensuring that the question bank is error free,” she added.

The commission, set up in October 1980 and started functioning in November 1982, conducts recruitment exams for filling vacant posts of assistant professors and principals in all government-aided recognised degree and post graduates colleges of UP as per University Grants Commission and state government rules.

The move comes at a time when UPHESC is gearing up to conduct recruitment exam for filling 1150 posts of assistant professors of 35 subjects in November 2018, exact date of which is yet to be announced.

“The plan is to start using this question bank for preparing the question papers from the November recruitment exams itself,” said Tripathi.

UPHESC in its recent meeting decided to conduct the recruitment exam for 1150 posts of assistant professors in November. It was advertised in its advertisement number 47.

The written exam for selection of assistant professors by the commission was introduced through advertisement number 46 only, the recruitment process for which started in May 2014.

However in its very first written exam for selecting assistant professors, the commission drew flak for asking wrong questions. Later on court orders, the UPHESC was forced to re-evaluate OMR answer-sheets of candidates of 22 subjects out of the total 45 for which it had held the exam.

Commission officials concede that the prime reason for rejecting recent demand of aspirants for quickly conducting the recruitment exams for advertised vacant posts was rejected by it as the commission wants to get this question bank ready first.