The
Staff Selection Commission (SSC) has decided to conduct its flagship Combined
Graduate Level Examination (CGLE) online to check malpractices and make the
test more transparent.
Besides,
the Commission has also changed the pattern of the examination and included
descriptive portion (essay writing) in it for the first time.
Hundreds
of students are selected through the CGLE every year for various mid-level
central government jobs, including as Assistant in Intelligence Bureau and
Inspector in Income Tax.
"It
has been decided to conduct the CGLE through online mode rather than Optical
Mark Recognition (OMR) based. It is a historic decision that will bring in more
transparency in the examination process," SSC Chairman Ashim Khurana said.
He
said a video walk through on the SSC's website has been put up to help the
aspirants understand the new pattern.
About
38 lakh aspirants, who had already applied for CGLE 2016, will have to take the
test under the new pattern which will be conducted in the next two months.
"A
notice mentioning the changes in pattern of examination has been issued. The
new online system will effectively put a check on any incident of leakage of
exam paper or tampering with the examination process," Khurana told .
He
said the Commission is getting positive feedback from the students across the
country on the recently announced changes.
The
decision to hold the CGLE online was endorsed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
also, senior officials in Personnel Ministry said.
The
SSC is one of the largest recruiting agencies in the country mandated to
conduct eight exams. It will fill about 89,000 government posts this year alone
from among about two crore applicants.
The
Commission's flagship CGLE is for filling vacancies in 30 different services in
the central government.
There
will be no fresh application for CGLE 2016 and those who have already applied
will have to take the exam on computer rather than OMR mode, which was prone to
malpractices by tech-savvy syndicates, the officials said.
The
computer-based examination will ensure greater confidentiality and faster
processing of results, they said.
The
SSC has for the first time been authorised to make recruitment for gazetted posts
of Indian Audit and Accounts department.
As
per the changed pattern, the CGLE will now be conducted in three tiers instead
of two.
In
phase I, there will be 100 questions as against 200 earlier. The aspirants will
get 1.15 hours instead of two. There will be no change in tier II and two
papers of 200 marks each would continue. Those who qualify in both tier I and
II, will have to take tier III exam of 100 marks which will be descriptive in
nature, the officials said.
They
said the descriptive portion will help in checking candidates' comprehension
and analytical skills.
Source
: The Times of India
