Chennai: For the next three years, Teachers Recruitment Board (TRB) will conduct State Eligibility Test (SET) for aspiring college faculty members.
The state govt nominated Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli, to conduct the eligibility test for 2023-24. However, the university did not conduct SET for the specified period.
“The govt, after careful examination, decided to nominate TRB as the ‘nodal agency’ for conducting SET for a period of three years from 2024-25 to 2026-27 on behalf of the state govt as per the guidelines formulated by the UGC,” higher education secretary K Gopal said in a govt order issued on Dec 17.
“Tamil Nadu state council for higher education member-secretary is requested to supervise the work of TRB in conducting SET. TRB secretary is requested to obtain clearance from UGC before conducting the test,” he further said in the order.
However, the govt order did not provide any reasons for changing the nodal agency. Around one lakh candidates applied for SET advertised by MS University. The exam was scheduled to be held on June 7 and 8. However, it was postponed by the university for technical reasons.
“TRB is likely to conduct the test for candidates who applied to the exam. There may not be a fresh notification for inviting applications,” a source said.
This decision has evoked mixed reactions from the aspirants and professors.
“There were allegations of corruption in the tests conducted by state universities earlier. TRB will conduct the state-level exams better than any university. Further, the scope for corruption is less,” said S Suresh, general secretary of the Tamil Nadu govt college teachers’ association (TNGCTA).
NET SLET association said that there are more than one lakh NET, SET qualified, and PhD holders waiting for employment, and there is no urgency to conduct SET.
“SET should be conducted only for the subjects that were not covered in the UGC-NET. TRB notification for assistant professors allowed the candidates who applied for SET 2024 to apply for the recruitment exam. It is not fair,” said S Swaminathan, advisor to the NET SLET Association.
