Pune: The University of Pune (UoP), the official agency for conducting the State Eligibility Test (SET) - the minimum eligibility to get a permanent lecture's job in any state university or its affiliated college, will conduct the examination twice in a year from the next year.

The decision was announced by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to help candidates seeking jobs in the teaching field.

Pune University, which conducts SET in Maharashtra and Goa, has more than 140 vacant seats of professors, readers and lecturers.

Affiliated colleges of the varsity are also facing similar staff crunch.

"We got the go-ahead from UGC a week ago. The next SET has been scheduled for January 18, 2009 and would be followed by another one in September 2009," said Member Secretary (SET) and UoP Registrar Manikro Jadhav.

N.N. Godbole, Convener of the UoP's SET, said, "Maharashtra is the only state where UGC has made an exception allowing two SET exams in a year owing to UoP's good record".

The average passing percent in the 21 SETs held before the February 2008 exam was 3.5 percent.

The best ever result was in 1998 when the passing percentage was 7.3 percent, followed by 5.6 percent in the inaugural year.

Post 1998, the success rate has never crossed the 4.5 percent mark.