No plan to drop civil services aptitude test (CSAT) from civil services examination: Govt
New Delhi: There is no plan to drop the civil services aptitude test (CSAT) from the civil services examination, the government said on Thursday.
The civil services examination is conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) annually in three stages -- preliminary, main and interview -- to select officers for Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) among others.
The CSAT is part of the civil services preliminary examination.
"No sir," was the response given by Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha to a query on the plans to drop the CSAT.
He also responded in negative when asked whether the government was going to change the pattern of the UPSC civil services examination, including the replacement of interviews with a psychological test.
In a separate reply, the minister said that there is no such test which has not been conducted even after one year of its registration by the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts entrance examinations for admission/fellowship in higher education institutions.
"National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts entrance examinations for admission/fellowship in higher education institutions, has informed that there is no such entrance exam which has not been conducted even after one year of registration for the same," Singh said.
He said due to COVID-19 pandemic, the schedule of release of notification of examinations for the year 2020 could not be maintained from the month of April, 2020 onwards.
"Due to COVID-19 pandemic situation, the declaration of result of Tier-III of Combined Graduate Level Examination 2018 has been delayed. However, every effort is being made to complete the process of declaration of result at the earliest," the minister said.
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AIITA welcomes Karnataka’s ban on obscene songs in school events
Bhatkal: The Karnataka unit of the All India Ideal Teachers Association (AIITA) has welcomed the Karnataka government’s decision to strictly ban school children from dancing to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes in government, aided, and private schools across the state.
AIITA Karnataka State President M. R. Manvi congratulated the government for taking what he termed an important step to preserve the sanctity of education.
“Such decisions to safeguard the dignity of school children and uphold the values of education are the need of the hour. This rule should not be limited to government schools alone but must be strictly implemented in all private educational institutions as well,” he said.
He further urged the government to address other concerns within school programmes.
“The government should not only prohibit obscene dances in the name of school anniversaries, but also ensure that plays and dialogues that incite religious hatred are avoided. Schools should be centres of harmony, not platforms for spreading hatred,” he added.
According to a recent circular issued by the Department of School Education and Literacy, obscene dances are adversely affecting the mental health and moral values of students.
In this regard, schools have been advised to use songs that promote nationalism, positive thinking, the greatness of Kannada culture, and value-based traditions instead of inappropriate content during programmes.
The circular also emphasises that students should be dressed in decent attire.
AIITA also backed the department’s warning that disciplinary action would be taken against head teachers if such guidelines are violated. The association has further demanded that district Deputy Directors of Public Instruction strictly monitor the implementation of these rules.
