Why many brilliant candidates do not qualify for teaching in colleges or in University of Mumbai and other prestigious centres of learning across the country. Many brilliant candidates with first class at MSc, MCom or MA level fail to qualify the NET/SET examinations and quite a few of those who do get into the colleges are just mediocre. A lot of them are not even able to express themselves in the language of instruction, English. Apart from being heavily accented, these candidates are also deficient in the subject that they teach.

How can they then enter the system with their handicaps? Perhaps favouritism at the NET/SET clearance level is working meticulously.

What is shocking is that the NET/SET examination questions expect a student to answer correctly even those questions that he has not studied at the PG level. If a particular field has three or four branches of specialization under the major broadly defined subject a candidate is expected to have PG level knowledge in all these branches.

For example a candidate who has specialized in say MSc with Organic chemistry and obtained a first class for that matter, is expected at the NET/SET exam to answer questions of other branches like Analytical chemistry or Inorganic chemistry of MSc levels of these subjects.

Candidates appearing for life sciences are supposed to have MSc level knowledge in all the branches like Botany, Zoology Microbiology etc though the candidate must have cleared the MSc with distinction in any one of these. Hence MSC with inorganic may answer that part of the question paper related to his specialization comfortably while in other parts in which he has not at all specialized he is sure to draw a blank. Same is with those who have specialized with zoology and facing Microbiology questions of MSc levels at NET/SET.

Thus brilliant students fail to make the mark and the space is taken by the manipulators and consequently, the higher education suffers. Though there are exceptions, generally students suffer due to this blunder in the nature of the question pattern.

Urgent remedy is required if this malaise is to be fixed. The manipulators are sort of micromanaging the NET/SET exams. In my opinion I feel some vested interests must be leaking the questions to a chosen few, those questions of other branches in which he has not specialized. This gives an advantage to the nexus candidate to prepare only those few questions of other branches instead of toiling through the entire syllabi of the other unstudied subjects and making his preparations much easier. Thus even a mediocre student with the minimum required marks at PG level clears the hurdle of the NET/SET exam while the well deserving students are left out.

And since the unsuccessful students hope to clear the next time in the belief that he will clear the hurdle the next time with a little more effort, he attempts again and again till finally he gets frustrated and attempts no more to be a lecturer. Thus the system loses out a genuinely deserving candidate once and for all. And everybody laments the fall of the higher education and blame that meritorious students do not enter the teaching profession for lack of better rewards.

As is said, thousand offenders may be set free, but one innocent should not be punished. So too a thousand mediocre candidates entering the system is pardonable but driving away the meritorious ones is not forgivable, as the loss to the students and to the nation is irreparable. The authorities must look into these and if found true to modify NET/SET papers and test the candidates only in the subject of their Post Graduation which, eventually, will be the subject of teaching.

Some argue that the testing in other branches is done since lecturers are expected to take a few lectures at the first year/second year levels, even in the other branches of the major subject. Even if that is the case testing for the PG level knowledge of non-specialization subjects is not warranted.

Students are not able to take up with the authorities for they are in the initial levels of their careers and would definitely not like to take up cudgels fearing victimization.

It is the duty of the NET/SET authority to remedy the situation if higher education in colleges and Universities is to be saved.

The authorities must also make available a set of questions to the candidate to know the pattern of the question papers and reveal their answer booklets without treating them like some confidential papers containing an explosive nuclear theory!!

Also the results of these examinations must be declared on time and the exam centres must be conveniently located for facilitating the students.

NET/SET exams must be either made rational and stream-lined along the lines GMAT, CAT, GRE, etc, or they must be scrapped and the PG level scores alone should be considered for teaching positions. Anyway the GMAT, CAT, GRE, etc are just examinations for entering the institutes for further studies. After a first class or a distinction at the PG level, it is rather ridiculous to test the ability to teach the subject which the student has already mastered. The undercurrents in the NET/SET examinations of favouritism and vested interests must be probed and fixed.

I smell a rat. The rat must be trapped.