The second phase of the PSC preliminary exams to posts that require Class-Ten as the minimum qualification too had questions from the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) textbooks, just like the first phase exam.
Questions were directly asked from the Class 10 and higher secondary textbooks.
Interestingly, questions from the secondary details of the topics that were asked in the first exam were asked in the second phase of the exam. So, the candidate could assume that in-depth questions from the same topics would be asked in the next exam phases. It would be ideal to prepare for the next phases, with the help of the textbooks.
First question paper
In the first question paper, the General Knowledge section was pretty easy. However, Maths was a bit difficult. Meanwhile, Maths was easier in the second phase when GK became tougher. So, upon analysing both sets of questions, these exams had a uniform standard. The same could be expected for the upcoming exams too.
Just as in the first phase, questions that confused the candidates were asked in the second phase too. There were questions that could be tricky and time-consuming. For instance, the candidate could get confused whether the Kayyur movement or the Salt Satyagraha wasn’t part of the movements in Kerala during the struggle for Indian independence. Questions like this could confuse the candidate as they would be able to answer only if they understand the thought process of the person who had set the questions.
It is quite easy to score 15 marks out of 20 in the Maths and Mental Ability section. The candidates can score at least 60 marks out of 80 in General Knowledge. Meanwhile, those who are well-prepared can score full marks in this section. It is not possible to predict the cut–off at this stage as six phases of exams have to be completed.
Errors spotted
Meanwhile, spelling mistakes too were aplenty. The Manikaran power station was wrongly spelt in the question paper. The question ‘which is the only freshwater lake in Kerala?’ too was wrong as there are more than one freshwater lakes in the state. Sasthamcotta Lake is the largest freshwater lake in Kerala.
Repeated topics
Topics like India’s National Song, National Human Rights Commission, Right to Information Commission and the significance of Ayyankali in Karala’s reformation movement were asked in the second phase exam too. The candidates could expect questions from these topics in the next phases as well.
Questions from History and Science topics are likely to be tougher. Only those who had studied the Science textbooks in-depth could answer the questions in the second phase effortlessly. Reading or learning by heart the tables and vital notes in the textbooks could be helpful.