Mysore/Mysuru: More than three months after the exam was held, the University of Mysore(UoM), which is the nodal agency to conduct Karnataka State Eligibility Test (K-SET) for appointment as Assistant Professors in Degree Colleges across the State, declared the results of K-SET-2021 here yesterday, according to which a total of 4,779 candidates have qualified.

The UoM had conducted the Test on July 25 at 11 cities across the State including Mysuru, Bengaluru, Belagavi, Davanagere and Mangaluru, in which 69,857 out of the 83,907 registered  candidates had appeared.

Announcing the results at Crawford Hall here yesterday, UoM Vice-Chancellor Prof. G. Hemantha Kumar said that out of the 4,779 qualified candidates, 2,470 were male and 2,309 female candidates. The pass percentage this year is 6.84 percent, which is less by 0.05 percent as compared to last year.

Pointing out that the next K-SET, which is recognised by the UGC, will be conducted in either February or March next year, Prof. Hemantha Kumar said that the University is likely to seek renewal of permission (once in three years) from the UGC for the conduct of K-SET for three more years.

Stating that K-SET was conducted in 41 subjects, he said that the highest number of candidates who have qualified were from Mangaluru with 9.72 percent result, followed by Bengaluru with 9.36 percent and Mysuru with 8.08 percent. However, the highest number of candidates who appeared for K-SET were highest in Mysuru (15,509), followed by Bengaluru (13,630)  and Mangaluru (4,573), he added.

Continuing, Prof. Hemantha Kumar said that to qualify for the selection list, a candidate must have appeared in both papers (300 marks) and secured at least 40 percent aggregate marks taken together for General category candidates and 35 percent for reserved category candidates.

The number of candidates to be qualified for eligibility (total slots) for eligibility to Assistant Professor posts shall be equal to 6 percent of the candidates appearing in both the papers of K-SET, which means that 4,191 candidates can qualify. As there was a tie in results and the number of candidates who scored equal marks were 588, this number was added to 4,191, thus taking the total of qualified candidates to 4,779, he explained.

All the candidates who cleared K-SET will get a certificate which will have a life time validity, he added. Prof. Hemantha Kumar further said that the highest number of candidates who wrote the Test was 14,063 in Commerce and the lowest was 25 in Linguistics. As many as 888 candidates have become eligible in Commerce stream to become Assistant Professors, he noted.

382 teaching posts vacant in UoM

Prof. Hemantha Kumar said that as many as 382 teaching posts are vacant for many years and the current student-teacher ratio affected the chances of the Century-old University getting higher NAAC grades.

Out of the 664 sanctioned teaching posts, 382 posts continue to remain vacant, he said adding that the academic activities are being run with the existing faculty of Professors, Associate Professors and Assistant Professors with support of 700-plus guest faculty. He said that the last time the University appointed teaching faculty was in 2007. The University had aimed for A+ grade in NAAC accreditation. However, it lagged behind in two parameters after having successfully cleared other parameters, the V-C said. “The filling up of vacant posts by now would have improved the student-teacher ratio and this could have increased the chances of getting higher NAAC grades,” he observed.