Graduation Degree is now required for Bank Clerk Jobs

The Public Sector Banks (PSBs) are all set to upgrade the minimum eligibility (educational qualification) criteria to graduation for the recruitment of Clerks. Earlier, the minimum eligibility required for Clerical posts were Intermediate and completion of 18 years of age.

The 19 nationalised banks that accept IBPS Score for recruitment, now want Graduates for the Clerical posts recruitment as per the new government order.

M Balachandran, Director, Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS), said that the Government order on making graduation as minimum qualification was a "recent development" which came after IBPS conducted the written exam.

However, from this year (2012) onwards, some banks made graduation as the basic educational qualification required. For example, Bank of Baroda had prescribed this new norm for Clerical recruitment. Andhra Bank too followed the footsteps of Bank of Baroda but had backed off due to unknown reasons.

The new prescribed norm will make the IBPS Score outdated for as many as 30 lakh candidates in India. These candidates appeared in the Common Written Examination (CWE) for Clerical posts conducted by the Institute for Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) in November last year with intermediate as the minimum qualification. Though the IBPS Score card is valid for one year, it will be difficult for these candidates to apply for the Clerical positions.

The new norm on one end is creating a lot of trouble for the non- eligible candidates who have already appeared for the CWE but on the other end this is one of the key recommendations of the Dr Anil Khandelwal Committee, which looked into the human resources aspect of banks.

As per the IBPS Director M Balachandran, from the next Clerical Exams, IBPS will tentatively prescribe graduation as the minimum criteria.