Telangana Gurukul PGT exam delayed due to technical snag

Hyderabad:The exam for Gurukul Postgraduate Teachers (PGT) in Telangana was delayed by two hours on Monday due to a technical problem, triggering protests by candidates at a few places.

Thousands of candidates were seen waiting outside the exam centres across the state since early morning.

The English exam for recruitment of PGTs in Telangana residential educational institutions was scheduled to start at 8.30 a.m. at all online exam centres. However, candidates were not allowed into the centre at the scheduled time. When enquired, the staff informed them that the conduct of the exam was delayed due to a technical problem in the server.

The candidates were agitated as there was no sign of the commencement of the exam even after 10 a.m. The aspirants, including women, had heated arguments with the staff and police officers deployed at the exam centres.

The candidates complained that the delay was causing them severe inconvenience as they have come from other districts to write the exam.

At one exam centre at Hayathnagar on the outskirts of Hyderabad, candidates staged a protest by sitting on Hyderabad-Vijayawada road causing a traffic jam.

The candidates were allowed into the centre around 10.30 a.m. and the exam finally started at 10.45 a.m.

The candidates are worried as the delay will impact two other exams scheduled during the day. While the physical science exam is to be conducted from 12.30 p.m., the biological science exam is scheduled from 4.30 p.m. Authorities are likely to postpone the two exams.

Telangana Residential Educational Institutions Recruitment Board (TREIRB) has been conducting exams since August 1 for 9210 posts in nine categories. More than 2.66 lakh candidates have applied for these exams.

As part of this, the exams for recruitment of 1,276 Postgraduate teachers are scheduled on Monday. Recruitment exams are being conducted for 4,020 trained graduate teachers, 868 lecturer/physical director/librarian in degree colleges, 2008 junior lecturer/physical director/librarian in junior colleges and 434 librarians in schools.

The exams are scheduled to conclude on August 23.

Many candidates, appearing for 3-4 posts, have complained that they were allotted exam centres in different districts outside away from native districts.