PRAYAGRAJ, July 24 -- The Uttar Pradesh Education Service Selection Commission (UPESSC) has approved a revised examination pattern for the recruitment of assistant professors in 330 government-aided degree colleges across the state, introducing negative marking for the first time and increasing the number of questions in the written test. Now, candidates will have to answer 120 multiple-choice questions in two hours, compared to 100 questions earlier. The revised paper will comprise 90 subject-specific questions and 30 general studies questions. Each question will carry three marks, making the written examination worth 360 marks. The most significant change is the introduction of negative marking. Candidates will lose one-third of the marks allotted to a question for every incorrect answer. Previous assistant professor recruitment examinations did not have any negative marking. In the last recruitment examination held in April under Advertisement No. 51, the question paper consisted of 70 subject-related questions and 30 general studies questions, with each question carrying two marks for a total of 200 marks. Confirming the move, UPESSC PRO Sanjay Singh said that the commission implemented changes in the pattern for conducting the recruitment exam for assistant professors in government-aided degree colleges. The change is in the interest of selecting the best candidates for the posts, he added Aspirants have welcomed the revised pattern, saying it would allow a more comprehensive assessment of candidates' subject knowledge. The commission is expected to soon issue a recruitment advertisement for 2,107 vacant assistant professor posts after receiving the requisition from the Directorate of Higher Education. The commission has already initiated the selection process for 111 principal posts in government-aided colleges and aims to complete the assistant professor recruitment by December. Separately, the commission has also revised the examination pattern for the recruitment of Trained Graduate Teachers (TGT) and Post Graduate Teachers (PGT) in 4,512 government-aided secondary schools across Uttar Pradesh. Unlike the recruitment examinations held in May and June, which consisted only of subject-specific questions, future TGT and PGT examinations will also include general studies questions in the two-hour written test....