The first online examination conducted by the Teachers Recruitment Board (TRB) on Sunday for recruiting 814 Computer Instructors for government schools was marred by reports of glitches, copying and other security-related issues from many centres in Tamil Nadu.

The issues prompted the TRB to announce that it will conduct examinations again for those who could not complete the examination due to computer-related glitches.

A senior official from TRB told The Hindu that of the 30,833 candidates who registered for the exam, they have collected a list of around 4,000 candidates who could not complete due to technical issues. However, a spokesperson for NSEIT, a wholly owned subsidiary of National Stock Exchange of India Limited, engaged by the TRB to conduct the exam, placed the figure around 3,000, excluding the candidates who were absent.

Apart from the glitches, videos began circulating on platforms like WhatsApp from Sunday afternoon showing alleged copying and delay in the commencement of examination at a few centres.

Tiruchengode college

Sources from TRB said that most complaints were reported from an engineering college in Tiruchengode in Namakkal district, one of the 119 examination centres where the exam was conducted.

A candidate, who took the examination at an engineering college in Cuddalore district alleged, “In my examination hall, where there were 50 candidates, there was only one supervisor. Questions looked the same for everyone, only the order was shuffled. Hence, it was easy to discuss and answer,” he said.

The examination had 150 multiple choice questions, of which 130 were related to computer science, ten were from psychology and another 10 from general knowledge. Unlike most examinations conducted by the TRB, police personnel were not deployed in several of the centres, sources from the TRB and NSEIT confirmed. Videos indicated that many had taken mobile phones inside though they are prohibited.

When contacted, a senior official from the TRB said that since this was the first time the organisation was conducting online examination in its 26 years of existence, some glitches were anticipated. “We will soon conduct the examination for those who could not complete with a fresh set of question papers,” the official said, claiming that the examination went off smoothly in most of the centres.

Denying allegations of copying, the official said that examination centres were identified not by the TRB, but NSEIT.

A spokesperson for NSEIT told The Hindu that the videos circulating on WhatsApp were not taken by candidates, but by those who managed to enter a couple of centres where glitches were reported.

“We had ensured proper network connections in all the centres. However, there were unexpected issues in one or two places, which we will be addressed in future,” he said.

Another candidate from Madurai, however, demanded that examination be re-conducted for all. “This is a Grade I job and there is stiff competition. When more than 10 % of candidates could not complete exam as per official figures, the exam on Sunday should be declared null and void,” he said.