{"id":261590,"date":"2025-03-28T00:12:15","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T18:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/?p=261590"},"modified":"2025-03-28T00:12:15","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T18:42:15","slug":"gk-is-an-impediment-to-fair-selection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/2025\/03\/28\/gk-is-an-impediment-to-fair-selection\/","title":{"rendered":"GK is an impediment to fair selection"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Editor,<\/strong><br \/>\nI wish to express concern regarding the selection process for the postgraduate teacher (PGT) post conducted by the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission. The PGT selection process consists of three stages:<br \/>\n\u00c4 Recruitment test &#8211; A preliminary screening test.<br \/>\n\u00c4 Mains examination (450 marks) &#8211; Comprising four papers:<br \/>\n\u00c4 General English &#8211; 100 marks<br \/>\n\u00c4 General Knowledge &#8211; 100 marks<br \/>\n\u00c4 Concerned subject Paper-I &#8211; 100 marks<br \/>\n\u00c4 Concerned subject Paper-II &#8211; 100 marks<br \/>\n\u00c4 Viva voce and classroom teaching &#8211; 50 marks<br \/>\nWhile the examination aims to recruit competent teachers, the significant weightage given to General Knowledge (100 marks) in comparison to subject-specific papers raises questions about its impact on fair selection.<br \/>\nA teacher&#8217;s primary responsibility is to teach a specialised subject effectively. However, General Knowledge, which covers a vast and unpredictable range of topics, can sometimes become the deciding factor in selection. A candidate with strong subject expertise but limited general awareness may lose out to someone who excels in GK, despite the latter not necessarily being a better teacher. Since GK is not directly related to classroom teaching, its high weightage may unintentionally overshadow the importance of subject knowledge.<br \/>\nTo ensure a fairer selection process, General Knowledge should be made a qualifying paper rather than a scoring one. Here are some possible ways to implement this:<br \/>\n\u00c4 Set a minimum qualifying score for GK &#8211; Instead of adding GK marks to the final merit list, candidates should only be required to pass it with a minimum percentage (eg, 30-40%). This would ensure that basic awareness is tested without it becoming the deciding factor.<br \/>\n\u00c4 Reduce GK weightage &#8211; If GK is to remain in the merit calculation, its weightage could be reduced to 50 marks, while subject papers could carry more marks to reflect their importance in teaching.<br \/>\n\u00c4 Remove the GK paper entirely &#8211; Given its vastness, it hampers the preparation of concerned subjects, which should be the primary focus for a teaching position.<br \/>\nThe goal of the selection process should be to identify the best subject experts who can also teach effectively. Making General Knowledge a qualifying paper would ensure that it serves its purpose without overshadowing the importance of subject expertise. Therefore, it is requested to the authorities concerned to look into this matter for a more balanced and just recruitment process.<br \/>\n<strong>PGT\/TGT aspirant<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Editor, I wish to express concern regarding the selection process for the postgraduate teacher (PGT) post conducted by the Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission. The PGT selection process consists of three stages: \u00c4 Recruitment test &#8211; A preliminary screening test. \u00c4 Mains examination (450 marks) &#8211; Comprising four papers: \u00c4 General English &#8211; 100 marks [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-261590","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-readers-forum"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261590\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}