The state primary education board has uploaded the correct answer key for all questions for the Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) held in January, incorporating changes based on responses from the candidates.
After scanning over 1,500 responses, board-appointed experts have changed the answers of six questions and uploaded the final answers, based on which the scripts will be now evaluated, said Manik Bhattacharya, the president of the West Bengal Board of Primary Education.
A notice signed by R.C. Bagchi, the secretary of the board on September 15, said: “Consequent upon the publication of answer key on 25.08.21 and receipt of the comments from the examinees, the correct answer keys….as per the opinions of the experts is published (on the website).”
A study of the model answer key and the correct answer key reveals that of the 11 subjects, two answers each in English-II, child development and pedagogy and environmental science have been corrected.
Through the correction, the board president said, they have expanded the choice of the correct option for each answer.
In a question in English-II asking candidates to “mark the plural form of the word (appendix)”, in the model answer, option (a) “appendixes” was the right answer. But in the final key, the correct answer is (a) appendixes or (b) appendices.
“This means those who have bubbled option (b) on the OMR (optical mark recognition) sheet will get marks as well,” said a board official.
The board will award marks to the candidates “on attempt” for question No. 144 in environmental science because all four answer options provided were incorrect.
“Our experts including teachers from the university, colleges and high schools went through the answers and found the logic cited by the respondents in these questions correct. This will ensure transparency in the recruitment process,” Bhattacharya told The Telegraph.
The practice of uploading model answers and seeking responses is followed in engineering and medical entrance exams over the past few years.
The practice was introduced at the primary recruitment level because of allegations of lack of transparency in the teachers’ recruitment exercise, said an official of the school education department.
“This practice of uploading the model answers followed by inviting and accommodating challenges from aspiring teachers will neutralise the possibility of future legal challenges and help the government complete the recruitment process at the earliest,” the official said.
Bhattacharya said they were planning to publish results before Puja.
