Aspirants to the posts of lecturer or junior research fellowship appeared for National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) on Sunday. As many as 15,330 candidates had registered for the exam, which was held in 19 centres across the city.
There was a slight decrease in the number of candidates taking the bi-annual exam from Bengaluru this time. For the exam held in June this year, as many as 19,538 candidates had registered.
K.K. Seethamma, Registrar, Bangalore University, who is also NET coordinator at the university, said no malpractices were reported in any of the centres. She attributed the decrease in number of candidates to the Karnataka State Eligibility Test, which was conducted in November by the State government. Besides, the examination was conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) this time. “Many candidates may not have been aware of this and may not have checked the CBSE exam,” she said.
The exam was conducted for 65 subjects and candidates took three papers under NET. The first, which is a general paper, tests the teaching and research aptitude of the candidates, while the second and third papers are on the subject chosen by the candidates.
Candidates, who took the exam, said that while the second and third papers were easy, the general paper was slightly more “challenging”. Several guest lecturers, who have been participating in protests demanding various facilities from the government, including better pay as well as regular payment of salaries, too appeared for the exam.
H. Sudhakar, who works as a guest lecturer and is appearing for the exam for the third time, said that the first paper was difficult but the second and third papers, which were on economics, were simpler. “We are thorough with our subjects, which is why the second and third papers were a cakewalk,” he said.
