Guest lecturers’ body allege anomalies in recruitment process of Assistant Professors

Members of the Tamil Nadu All Government College UGC Qualified Guest Lecturers Association have alleged that there are anomalies in the recruitment process of Assistant Professors in government and government-aided arts and science colleges in the State.

He stated that the scores given by the Teacher Recruitment Board (TRB) to the two candidates for their teaching experience were higher in the provisional selection list announced after the certificate verification and interview than in the score list announced after the exam. Both candidates were selected and their appointment letters were delivered on March 13.

According to V. Thangaraj, State President of Visiting Lecturers Association, anomalies have been noticed in the candidate lists for Marine Biology and Wildlife Biology departments. He said M. Ashokkumar was given zero marks in experience as per the mark list released on February 25 ahead of certificate verification and interview. However, according to the provisional selection list released on March 12 (after certification verification and interview), he was given 15 points for experience. Similarly, while M. Santhanakrishnan was given 11 marks in the mark list for experience, he was given 13 marks in the provisional selection list of Marine Biology department.

TRB had 42,064 candidates in the exam held on December 27, 2025 to recruit 2,708 Assistant Professors in 48 branches. Candidates for five of these subjects, History Education, Culture and Tourism, Human Rights, Marine Biology and Wildlife Biology, were called for certificate verification and interview on March 11 and 12, and appointment letters were delivered to the selected candidates the next day.

The mark list of the remaining 43 subjects was published by TRB on June 25. Mr. Thangaraj stated that a few notable issues were noticed here too. For example, one candidate scored 49 out of a total of 50 in Paper II (descriptive answers), while he scored 54 out of a total of 150 in Paper I Part B (multiple choice questions). Similarly, another candidate scored 111 marks in the MCQ exam but did not score any marks in the descriptive paper.

Mr. Thangaraj observed that there was a need for transparency in the evaluation of examination papers. He believed that a positive step towards reforming the recruitment system would be to eliminate the interview process and make the examination the final point of selection for candidates.