Academics find fault with goverment’s accountancy test

PANAJI: Principals of commerce colleges across Goa analysed the contentious question paper set for the post of accountants in January 2018. According to the academicians, the syllabus used for setting question paper was not suitable to test the skills of accounts students.
They said the examination was based on mathematics syllabus of Class XII and tested candidates for concepts which were irrelevant to the posts of accountants.
“Principals of around 20 commerce colleges found that the syllabus used was that of Class XII mathematics and questions were based on trigonometry and calculus, instead of accountancy,’’ said Radhika Nayak, principal of SS Dempo College of Commerce and Economics, Altinho. She said the justification that students were notified about the syllabus based on Class XII mathematics does not mean the syllabus was suitable for posts advertised.
Nayak had initiated the move to seek the question paper used in the exam from the directorate of higher education. The result of the test held for the post of around 80 accountants was declared in August. It created uproar as nearly 8,000 commerce graduates failed to make the cut.
It led to a raging debate and principals of commerce colleges decided to analyse the question paper to clear the air about criticism from some quarters that the education standard in Goa was not good enough.
Nayak informed that the findings have been conveyed to the director of education, who assured that soon a committee will be formed.
“The director has said the panel will go into the details of the question paper and possible solutions to it. He has also decided to have coaching classes in colleges to train students appearring for competitive examinations like IAS. The move is an offshoot of what happened with the accounts paper,” said Nayak.
The examination for the post was conducted by Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education on a request from the state. But Goa Board had refused to carry out any analysis or scrutiny of the question paper.