File picture of students at a college in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 10: The state government will introduce the State Eligibility Test (SET) from next year as a precondition for appointment of lecturers.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik has given nod to the proposal.

An official of the higher education department said the state-level test would be an attempt to revive the Service Selection Board, which had almost been defunct due to no recruitment of lecturers for nearly 20 years.

“The test will ensure that only qualified teachers are appointed in colleges. We will write to the University Grants Commission (UGC), New Delhi, in this regard. After securing its permission, we will plan out the process in the next two months,” said higher education secretary Gagan Kumar Dhal.

The official said states such as Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Maharashtra had their own SETs. As universities are generally entrusted with the responsibility of holding SET, the state government will follow the same practice. However, the first step will be structural organisation — appointment of office-bearers for the board.

“We will take the help of academics in various parts of the country to chalk out a relevant syllabus. We will also consult them while setting questions — how many objective and long-type questions should be there in the test paper, whether it is equivalent of the UGC’s National Eligibility Test (NET) and how much time should the candidates be allowed,” said Dhal.

A team of experts would then be constituted to check the accuracy and difficulty level of the question papers. “They will give their feedback on whether the questions are suitable for the level of aspiring lecturers,” said the higher education secretary.

Sources said over 40,000 candidates appeared for the UGC-NET, held twice a year for postgraduates, in humanities stream. Similarly, nearly 20,000 science students take the test.

Last month, the Odisha Public Service Commission published an advertisement, seeking applications for 281 vacant lecturer posts in degree colleges. The pay scale will be in the range of Rs 15,600 to Rs 39,100, apart from academic grade pay of Rs 6,000 and other allowances. The commission will also start the appointment process for 272 junior lecturer posts at the Plus Two level from August 27. The teachers will get salaries between Rs 9,300 and Rs 34,800.