Punjab: Over 75% clerks in education dept flunk typing test in Punjabi, English

A senior official from the education department said that after hirings are done on compassionate grounds, it is mandatory for candidates to clear a typing test in Punjabi and English which is a pre-requisite for day to day official work in the department. If they fail to clear the tests, they are not fired but their annual increments are stopped. However, they can always re-appear for the test which is conducted by the languages department from time to time.

Among the candidates who have flunked, some have flunked in both languages while others in just one. While earlier the condition was just to clear a typing test in Punjabi, the fresh entrants also have to clear it in English.

According to the zone-wise break-up of Punjabi typing test results, 24 of 32 clerks have failed in Amritsar zone which includes Amritsar, Tarn Taran and Gurdaspur districts. In Patiala zone which includes Patiala, Ludhiana and Fatehgarh Sahib districts, 26 of 35 clerks failed. In Sangrur zone which includes Moga, Sangrur, Barnala, Malerkotla and Mansa districts, 10 of 13 candidates flunked. In Bathinda zone which includes Bathinda, Faridkot, Fazilka, Ferozepur and Muktsar districts, 22 of 30 clerks failed and in Jalandhar zone (including Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Nawanshahr and Hoshiarpur districts), 31 of 40 clerks failed. Similarly, 8 of 9 clerks also failed in Chandigarh zone which includes Mohali and Ropar.

According to district-wise English typing test results, 18 of 20 clerks failed from Amritsar zone, 16 of 26 failed from Patiala zone, 10 of 12 flunked from Sangrur zone, 17 of 24 failed from Bathinda zone, 21 of 24 failed from Jalandhar zone and 2 of 3 flunked from Chandigarh zone.

A candidate who cleared her Punjabi typing test nearly ten years after her hiring in 2013, said: “From ten years my increment was blocked as I had failed to clear Punjabi typing test. This time I finally practised for hours online and appeared again. I could not afford to work without an annual increment as now I have two small children and daily expenses are increasing. I got this job on compassionate grounds after my father was killed by terrorists.”

A letter issued by the school education department said that clerks who have flunked this time will be again given an opportunity when the languages department conducts the test in coming months.