hyderabad: Students who will write Eamcet 2011 might face one of the toughest challenges— of answering erroneous questions. With the higher education department deciding to prepare the Eamcet questions based solely on textbooks and question banks prepared by Telugu Academy, the students are in for quite a gamble this Eamcet, as experts point out that several mistakes have crept into the academy’s prescribed books. 

   It is for the first time that the Eamcet authorities are considering the use of Telugu Academy’s question bank for selecting questions for Eamcet. Earlier the question bank for Eamcet was made by officials from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU). 

   According to subject experts of Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Zoology and Botany textbooks, the mistakes in textbooks range from simple spelling errors to change in values and terms. While mistakes are common in all subjects it is in Chemistry and Zoology that the highest number of mistakes were found, experts said. 

   For instance, in the Zoology reading material of Telugu Academy, a chapter on Vitamin D gives multiple answers to a q u e s t i o n . While in some sections it is mentioned that Vitamin D is converted into Calcitriol by liver in other parts the function is attributed to PTH (pg 85 to 211). Also functions of some of the organs in the body are mentioned as “not known” in the academy books.
   According to senior Intermediate lecturers who have even approached AP High Court with a petition to correct errors in the study material for Eamcet, the authorities should constitute a separate committee of experts to decide on Eamcet questions. Eamcet is expected to begin in April or May. 

   E x p e r t s said that in some of the questions suggested by Telugu Academy, even concepts and theories were not applied correctly. “Till recently questions for Eamcet were prepared by JNTU and now the state government is planning to use substandard questions from the Telugu Academy’s question banks for the preparation of questions for Eamcet. This would force the students to learn wrong answers just to clear Eamcet,” said ESRK Prasad, a former subject expert of Telugu Academy and an Intermediate teacher with 35 years of experience.
   Some of the junior college lecturers from the city have been repeatedly petitioning officials of higher education department and even Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) since the past several months asking them not to use material prepared by the academy. Ironically, AP State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE) and Eamcet authorities decided to use a new question bank to reduce errors in Eamcet.
   Meanwhile, officials from JNTU, who have been conducting Eamcet since the past one decade, said that the number of errors in Eamcet have been reducing since the past few years and they will maintain the standard even in the coming examinations. According to them, while in Eamcet 2009, 11 questions had to be cancelled for being wrong, in Eamcet 2010 only one had to be cancelled.