Several candidates were unsure of what to expect in the supplementary examination of the Tamil Nadu Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) held on Sunday.
S. Janaki was one of the 41,120 candidates who wrote the examination in Chennai. She, like many others whose spirits were dampened after the first TET in July, did not come out disappointed this time.
R. Senthamarai, who attempted Paper I, meant for those intending to teach classes I to V, was relieved that she was able to complete the paper.
“I even had time to recheck the answers. Unlike the first TET, the difficulty level in the mathematics section had come down. However, some questions in the child development and pedagogy section were unclear,” she said.
In July, the difficulty level of the mathematics questions, insufficient time to work out sums and long-winded questions in English in the first TET were among the principal problems which candidates pointed out. J. Sheeba, though unsure of her chances of making it for recruitment based on the new criteria said that as far as the paper was concerned, she performed significantly better this time around. “We had time to read the questions in English and answer them. I had also prepared harder this time,” she said.
While candidates who wrote Paper I had mixed feelings about the difficulty levels, most who wrote Paper II in the afternoon — meant for those seeking appointment in classes XI and XII — said that they were hopeful of scoring a handsome mark.
“I am a Tamil major and found English a little difficult. But, I did the rest of the paper well and hope to score over 100 in the 150 mark paper,” said T. Saraswathi. Mary Francisca, echoing the views of several others said that Tamil was especially tough in Paper II. Visually-impaired candidates who were not awarded additional time in July’s exam also said that they were able to complete the paper. P. Sasikala and P. Radha who are currently pursuing her Masters said that they had good scribes, sufficient time, and a reasonably easy paper to answer.
But, there were also several like S. Rajendran who was upset that seniority has been scrapped as a criteria and higher secondary examination marks been brought into the equation. He said that he has been a teacher for over a decade “I wrote Paper II last time as well, but taking class XII marks into account will only put those like us at a disadvantage. We also have to score above 90 per cent in the examination to get the 60 per cent weightage,” he said, like several others who have over a decade of experience, and felt that they were unfairly been put at par with those who have graduated recently.
However, according to the chief educational officer’s office there were as many as 8,339 absentees across the 85 centres in Chennai district. Around 20,043 new candidates and over six lakh candidates who did not clear the first TET held in July were expected to appear for Sunday’s supplementary examination across the state according to the TRB.
The examination has been mandated under the Right to Education Act for appointment of teachers for classes I to VIII post August 23, 2010 and TRB was appointed a nodal agency to conduct the examination in the State.
