The SPSC

I just happened to open my blog after a long gap. This is not to say that I have been inactive online for the last month or so. I have actually been 9gagging quite a lot. Also, I make it a point to tweet every second day. But when it comes to my blog I have simply been procrastinating.

I sat for the much awaited US/Dy. SP examination this month. In the run up to the examination, I have often doubted my study material. Not that it is too little too late. In my case, it turns out to be the opposite. I wonder if I may be studying too much? Most of the notes I have have been prepared for the UPSC examination. With regard to the State Civil Service Examination, it did not help that the syllabus was as vague as it could possibly be. Added to that, we did not even have the luxury of past question papers. Once I was seated in the examination hall, with Dengyal just a row away, I felt my nerves settle down. What I had instead was this wide grin on my face. What was this exactly? Some kind of a joke? The question paper had been set poorly. Correction. Poorly is too polite a word for such atrociousness. The paper had been set BLINDLY. I would have speeded my way to the State Public Service Commission office if it weren't for the 3 hour duration of the examination. Being the safe player that I am, I chose to stay put and postpone any ramblings for later. Paper II was a similar story. To put it in two words, errors galore.

I came home appalled and extremely angry. In the following two days, I managed to pen a short and precise article to be sent to a local daily. But, before I could send it, the public outcry over the poor conduct of such an important examination was all over facebook. Pretty soon, I read two articles in the local dailies. As a result of this outrage, this particular examination stands cancelled with a re-examination to be announced in the next 90 days. Angry? Sad? Tired of the wait? Happy? Relieved? I don't know how this makes me feel. Since my article went unemailed, I thought I should put it up here for you to have a read.

An open letter to the SPSC

This is in reference to the recently conducted joint examination for the post of Under Secretary and Dy. SP by the SPSC on 6^th October, 2013. All of you will agree that this is one of the premier examinations for the state. From having the first deadline for submission of completed forms in October 2012, we have indeed waited almost a year to sit for a shot at an entry into the State Public Service. The burning topic post Sunday has been the typos and miscellaneous errors recorded in both the papers. I would like to first focus on the glaring mistakes.

Paper I

1.       Question no. 119 asked for the full form of IPCC, whereas Question no. 130 provides the answer to the former.

2.       Similarly, Question no. 127 asked when World Environment Day is observed and Question no. 147 asked for the theme of World Environment Day which was observed on 5^th June, 2012.

3.       Question no. 34 had a major formatting error where options in column B were clubbed right below Column A. This was very confusing for the candidates.

4.       Question no. 54 asked the candidates to identify the correct sequence. However, option c had repeat of (iii).

5.       Question no. 134 did not have the correct answer among the options.

Paper II

1.       Question no. 24 had the same sequence for both option (a) and for (d).

2.       Question no. 65 stated that four out of the following five are similar in relation. However, there were only four options to choose from.

3.       Question no. 102 did not have the correct answer among the options given. It was stated much later into the examination by the invigilator.

4.       Question no. 99 was the cream of the lot. I would like to leave it for you to judge. “In a city 20% people takes coffee, 50% takes tea and 10% takes both tea and coffee. Then percentage of people travelling by bus or car is?”

Given the blunders, the SPSC has come out with a statement in Sikkim Express dated 9^th October, 2013. The Commission has said, the ‘minor typing errors’ were noticed only after the commencement of the examination…. There were a few minor clarifications/corrections in papers which were intimidated to the Centre supervisors who in turn have intimidated to all the candidates who were present about these corrections through invigilators. However, in my centre, for instance, the invigilator was clueless about the errors and whatever corrections were intimated was done after half the examination period was over. In some cases, the candidates had already marked the answer to those questions. The few who were clever enough to leave it blank had the undue advantage. Secondly, given that “The Commission maintained absolute secrecy in setting question papers”, adequate steps should have been taken to ensure that the same had been proof read to highlight and eliminate such silly mistakes. A major grievance of the candidates has been the xeroxed question papers. Added to this was the fact that the seal was not broken in the examination hall.

Being an apex body, one expects a bit more professionalism from the SPSC. Such mistakes should not be repeated in the future as this not only dampens the spirit of the motivated but also makes one question the legitimacy of such an important examination.