Candidates who have applied for the posts of assistant professors in government arts, science and education colleges are confused by the Teachers Recruitment Board (TRB) asking for additional, irrelevant details.
A number of applicants have complained that details not applicable to them have to be filled up as mandatory information in the online application form on TRB’s website.
The notification for filling more than 2,000 assistant professor posts was issued first in August 2019 and a revised one was issued subsequently in the first week of October 2019. The last date for application and uploading of all the certificates was on November 15, 2019.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, the TRB said that those who have applied for arts and science colleges (and not education colleges) must upload additional details like conduct certificates and the serial numbers on all their certificates by Tuesday.
However, the candidates have complained that the form demands details on completion of Bachelor of Education (B. Ed) and Master of Education (M. Ed) courses, which are not applicable to those who applied for arts and science colleges.
“When we created our online account for submitting applications itself, the first question asked was whether we are applying for arts and science colleges or education colleges. Based on that, we were taken to different forms for submission of details. In that case, why are they asking B. Ed and M. Ed details now,” asked one of the candidates.
Another candidate said that the two fields were mandatory and the options available did not even include ‘Not Applicable.’ “There are only two options on whether we completed the course during the end of calendar year or academic year,” she said.
A candidate from Erode, who is working as a guest lecturer, questioned the logic of asking these details at this juncture. “They already have copies of our certificates on which the serial numbers are available. Moreover, conduct certificates are usually not considered as important and we are expected to carry it only during interviews,” he said.
Stating that they could have asked these details earlier, he expressed concern over whether the move was a tactic to postpone the recruitment process.
Denying the allegation that there was an attempt to delay the process, a senior official from the TRB said that the issue of candidates being asked about B.Ed and M. Ed qualifications will be immediately looked into. “If there is a problem, we will correct it immediately,” the official said.
