UGC-NET: New hope to Telugu medium students

HYDERABAD: An increasing number of Telugu medium students are preparing to crack the coming UGC-NET (University Grants Commission— National Eligibility Test) thanks to the changes made by the UGC in the examination pattern. For the examination to be held in June this year the UGC has decided to introduce objective pattern, instead of descriptive, in Paper- III.The UGC conducts NET in 94 subjects in arts and social sciences twice a year— in June and December. It used to conduct the examination in Hindi and English media until December last.This made many candidates, who had their education in Telugu medium, flinch from attempting the UGC-NET. The UGC awards JRF (Junior Research Fellowship) to a few NET qualified candidates and confers eligibility for lecturer jobs. The JRFqualified candidates are eligible to get a scholarship of more than Rs 15,000 a month for five years for doing Ph.D at any of the UGC-recognised universities.To appoint them as lecturers, private or government institutions have to pay UGC-grade scale to them. NET qualification is compulsory for applying for posts of degree college lecturers and assistant professors. Universities and PG colleges have to recruit only NETqualified teachers but shortage of qualified candidates forces institutes to hire postgraduates.Speaking to Express, B Sriram, an MA (Economics) candidate from Osmania University, said that he had failed in NET thrice since his completion of post-graduation in 2007. As the English medium became a hurdle to him, Sriram called off his preparation for NET and went for the Ph.D entrance test of Osmania University instead. He cleared the test and got admission to the Ph.D course. With the change in the UGC-NET pattern, Sriram said he would again compete for NET to get fellowship.He said he was confident that he could clear the test as he had got good subject knowledge and passed the post-graduation in distinction. Herefore, most candidates could not clear the test as they had their collegiate education in the Telugu medium. Though universities in the state offer post-graduate courses only in English medium, the candidates lacked enough English-language skills to clear the NET.P Rami Reddy, MA (Public Administration), from Kakatiya University in Warangal, said NET qualification would make one eligible for posts of lecturers at degree colleges and assistant professors at universities in the state. The change in NET pattern would lead to more candidates being qualified and the shortage of qualified faculty coming down, he said. The state government could not fill degree college lecturer posts as the recruitment notification issued in 2008 received poor response from candidates.Earlier, candidates had to get 50 pc marks (general), 45 pc (OBC) and 40 pc (SC & ST) in the first two papers. Then only was the third paper evaluated.Now the minimum qualifying marks have been revised downwards to 40 pc (general), 35 pc (OBC, SC & ST) separately in the first two papers. As regards Paper-III, the minimum marks to be obtained for candidates of all categories remains the same: 50 pc (general), 45 pc (OBC) and 40 pc (SC & ST).Only those who obtain the minimum required marks in each paper, separately, as mentioned above will be considered for final preparation of results.However, the final qualifying criteria for Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) and eligibility for lectureship shall be decided by the UGC before declaration of results. There will be no negative marking in any of the three papers.