Teaching is considered an honourable profession. If one is a teacher in school, then he/she is an icon for the young students as at that age for many their teacher is the ultimate role model. Becoming a teacher, oops, professor in college is a big thing as one grooms a generation that is about to join the country’s work force. Moreover, a college professor is held in high esteem and is more of a friend than a teacher to a student. Keeping this in mind, the University Grants Commission (UGC) has said that anyone wishing to teach in a college should have cleared the National Eligibility Test (NET) or the State Level Eligibility Test (SLET).

The decision to hold NET or SLET comes in the wake of UGC notification to raise education standards. Under this all those who passed M.Phil before 1993 must clear the exam to be appointed as an Assistant Professor. An expert panel recommended that NET or SLET should be retained as compulsory requirement for all candidates even if they possessed M.Phil degree or Ph.D.

For the first time after a gap of 12 years, Osmania University would be entrusted the responsibility of conducting SLET, on the lines of NET, as per the responsibility entrusted by the UGC. The abolished College Service Commission conducted the test last in 1999.

APSCHE Chairman P Jaya Prakash Rao said that the government would write to the University, on holding the SLET, which would then express its approval. This would be then forwarded to the UGC for issuing of necessary orders. He went on to add that some expert panels would be formed for conducting the test.Many aspirants feel that it is easier to clear the SLET as compared to NET. They feel that it is tough to crack an exam at the All India level.However, officials don’t agree with this theory.

They say SLET will be on par with NET and the UGC would be involved in the examination process. Sources say that the only advantage in SLET is that the State government can include subjects of its choice in SLET. Concept of SET / SLET According to the UGC, it was felt that an eligibility test at the national level may not be completely able to represent the subjects which are regional in their character. Moreover, the demand for enabling the candidates to appear for the Test in their own mother tongue was also one factor. The state governments and union territories were, therefore, given the option of conducting their own Test for eligibility for Lectureship at the state level.

Thus was born the concept of SET, i.e., State Eligibility Test for Lectureship Eligibility only. It is conducted both in English and the vernacular. The Commission at its meeting held on May 25, 1990 decided to constitute a UGC Committee on Accreditation of Test (U-CAT). The terms of reference of U-CAT are as follows:

• Laying down guidelines for holding the tests
• Accreditation of tests conducted by agencies other than UGC/CSIR
• Monitoring of tests conducted by other agencies and suggesting follow-up measures
• Extend guidance and help to State level agencies in the organisation of the tests

Based on the recommendations made by U-CAT,the following guidelines are given to the states regarding test design, course content, organisation of the test etc. for conducting State Eligibility Test (SET) for Lectureship only.

In accordance with the mandate given by the Union Government, the UGC, on request of State Governments, proposed to have State Eligibility Test (SET) duly accredited by UGC for a fixed term. This state level Test is based on the pattern of the National Eligibility Test (NET) conducted by UGC and UGC/CSIR for Humanities, Social Sciences and Sciences subjects respectively. The State Governments and Union Territories, which are desirous of conducting their own SET, are required to obtain accreditation from UGC from time to time.

Besides conducting the NET, the role of the NET Bureau is to assess and accredit state identified agencies to conduct SET examination. The SET assessment is done by evaluating the performance of the state agency designated by the state government. The Certification of Accreditation is given to the state for a stipulated period of time. Identification of State Agency: A State Government may identify an agency, which may be a University, or an examination body of repute or a reputed agency associated with recruitment of teachers for higher education.
States conducting SLET are:
* Maharashtra & Goa
* Tamil Nadu (under consideration as on 14-07-2005)
* Madhya Pradesh
* Andhra Pradesh
* Himachal Pradesh
* Jammu & Kashmir
* Rajasthan
* West Bengal
* NE-SLET (Which includes all North Eastern states and Sikkim)
* Karnataka (Under consideration as on 14-07-2005)

The Commission constitutes an Accreditation Committee from time to time to assess the performance of the states conducting the SET Examination. The Commission takes a final decision about any state on the basis of the Report of the Committee.

Scope of NET & SLET

Eligibility for Lectureship: Clearing of NET confers eligibility for lectureship upon Indian nationals, i.e. the NET qualified candidates are eligible to apply for the post of lecturer in all Indian universities/Institutes/colleges.It was resolved in the UGC’s Commission Meeting held on 1.11.2001 that commencing from the SET examinations scheduled in or after June 2002, the SET qualified candidates shall be eligible for appointment to the post of lecturer only in the universities/colleges belonging to the state from where they have passed the SET examination. The status of SET shall remain unchanged for SET examinations conducted prior to June 1, 2002, that is, the candidates clearing SET were eligible for appointment to the post of lecturer anywhere in India.

Junior Research Fellowship: The candidates who qualify the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) Examination of UGC/CSIR NET are also eligible for the post of lectureship. In addition,they are also eligible to receive Fellowships (UGC/CSIR) under various schemes subject to the candidates finding their placement in the universities/IITs/other national organisations. The validity of the offer is two years w.e.f. the date of issue of JRF award letter. The validity period of the offer has been raised from one year to two years for JRF Award Letters issued on or after April 1, 2005. However, in case, the candidates have already joined M.Phil. /Ph.D.,the date of commencement of fellowship will be from the date of declaration of NET examination result or date of their joining,whichever is later.

NET Schedule UGC conducts NET twice a year, i.e., in the months of June and December. The notifications announcing the June and December examinations are published in the months of March and September respectively in Employment News.

NET Results Declaration Schedule
The result of June, UGC-NET is declared generally in the month of October. Similarly December, UGC-NET result is usually declared in the month of April. The UGC-NET results published in the Employment News are also available on UGC website.NET for Science Subjects The NET in Major Science Subjects, viz.,Chemical Sciences; Earth Atmospheric Ocean & Planetary Sciences; Life Sciences; Mathematical Sciences and Physical Sciences is conducted jointly with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi. The concerned notifications are issued separately by CSIR.

Non-Receipt of NET Certificate
In the case of non-receipt of NET certificate the candidates are advised to correspond with/contact the Head, NET Bureau, UGC, South Campus, University of Delhi, Benito Juarez Marg., New Delhi 110 021.In their covering letter, they must state their Roll No., the date of UGC-NET in which they have appeared and UGC-Ref. No. (in case known to them). In case, they have not submitted the attested copies of their documents earlier, they may do so with the covering letter duly signed by them.

Attested copies of the following documents may be submitted:
* High School/Higher Secondary/Matriculation Certificate depicting date of birth * Master’s degree/Provisional Certificate
* Consolidated mark-sheet of Master’s degreecourse. (Wherever grades are assigned,conversion table in terms of consolidated percentage may be produced from the issuing authority)* Caste certificate (only in case of SC/ST/OBCcandidates)
* Certificate of Physical disability (only in case of Physically Handicapped and Visually Handicapped candidates) Important: All certificates have to be attested by a gazetted officer with his/her official stamp bearing his/her name, designation and official address. The certificates, which are in languages other than Hindi and English, may be translated in Hindi or English and attested by the issuing authority of the original certificates. Procedure of issuing Duplicate Certificate Duplicate NET certificate shall be issued only in the event of loss/ non-receipt of the original one. The candidate may submit the following documents for getting the duplicate certificate issued:An affidavit on a Judicial stamp paper duly attested by the competent Authority for the loss of original certificate issued by the UGC mentioning the name of the candidate, his/herparticulars like father’s and mother’s names, date of UGC-NET, Roll number, subject, address etc. The candidate must state in the affidavit that in case of his/her discovering the original NET certificate/JRF Award letter, he/she would not misuse it and return it to the NET Bureau. A demand draft of Rs. 100/- drawn in favour of the Secretary, University Grants Commission, New Delhi payable at State Bank of India, Service Branch, (Code No. 7687), New Delhi. An attested Copy of FIR registered at a Police Station. The Attestation stamp of the Class-I gazetted officer must bear his/her name, designation and official address.