COVID CONCERNS

TNPSC Group I examination: 49% candidates absent

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:  04.01.2021

The group I preliminary exam of the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission was held on Sunday, with 49% of the candidates absent. Of the 2,56,954 who applied, 1,31,264 appeared and 1,25,690 were absent, mainly due to the travel restrictions triggered by Covid-19. Usually, around 30% candidates are absent for the preliminary exam.

Answering all questions and affixing the thumb impression on the OMR answer sheets, to prevent malpractices, were among the mandatory rules for students.

Candidates said more weightage was given to Tamil Nadu-related questions and the difficulty level was high.

“As per the new measures, candidates need to shade answer to all questions. If they don’t know the answer, they have to shade the answer not known option. The commission also allotted additional time to write each of the five options shaded by them for all questions,” said Sucharithan, who appeared for the exam.

Some said introduction of the additional option just a few days before the exam had led to a few mistakes, while others said more weightage was given to the history of social reform movements and leaders in the state. “The exam is conducted only for 66 vacancies. Many candidates have gone back to their native places and due to travel constraints, they have skipped the exam,” a woman said.

The TNPSC also introduced Thirukkural and development administration as new topics while revising the syllabus.

“Students found it difficult to answer the development administration questions. Question paper pattern is moving from factual questions to conceptbased questions which is good,” said Sathyashree Boominathan, managing director of King Makers IAS Academy.

On the huge absentees, he said, “Usually, the gap between the number of candidates applied and appeared is 30%. Covid-19 pandemic and long-delay have affected the preparation and confidence of candidates leading to more absentees.”

While the number of applicants fell from the usual 5 lakh to 2.5 lakh, some said the lack of an option to change exam centre could have led to some absentees. “Many might have skipped exam due to Covid-19. The long delay and the pandemic might have affected confidence,” said U Sivabalan, academic head, TNPSC exams, Shankar IAS Academy.