A total of 5,440 students appeared at the Odisha Teacher’s Eligibility Test (OTET) in Brahmapur centres conducted by the State’s Board of Secondary Education (BSE) on Monday.
Out of 11 examination centres in Ganjam district, students appeared for test in 5 centres opened in Brahmapur. The BSE this time introduced two papers out of which an examinee could appear in any one. While CT pass-out students appeared in Paper-I, BEd pass-out students appeared in Paper-II.
Admit cards were made available online to the examinees for the first time to avoid rush at the examination centres, as a result of which the examinees did not encounter any inconvenience in obtaining their admit cards, said Circle Inspector of Schools, Ganjam Santosh Kumar Patra.
Out of the 5,655 candidates applied for OTET, 3,103 appeared for Paper-I and 2,337 for Paper-II. There was neither any reservation nor any special facilities for the general candidates, for which there was a clear state of forlorn hope of success among them, said sources.
According to an examinee, Geetanjali Panda, while CT or BEd is not compulsory for any SC, ST and PH students, the same is mandatory for general candidates, which is quite unfortunate. By such discriminatory norms, thousands of meritorious students of the general category are being deprived of appearing at the OTET, she alleged. If this discriminatory practice continues, the whole education system would soon collapse, she further alleged.
In the name of reservation and relaxation, the students under the general category are being humiliated and tortured, both in job and in education, for which politicians are responsible, said a senior citizen.