Kerala CM Pinarayi to inaugurate Praveshanotsavam today
'The academic master plan will be published by June 10. The academic year 2025-26 will be considered as the Comprehensive Quality Year. Various activities and projects are being implemented as part of making Comprehensive Quality Education efficient, ensuring that the knowledge and skills to be acquired by children in each class are acquired in the respective classes itself.
The learning processes will be developed in such a way that the values envisaged in the Constitution, such as democracy, secularism, and equality along with the social values and civic consciousness put forward by the Curriculum Framework 2023, are instilled in children,' said minister Sivankutty.
'NCERT has prepared a school readiness package for children who enter Class 1 without any preschool learning experience and with different preschool experiences. Samagra Shiksha Kerala has been tasked with developing the module,' he added. In the context of the revision of the Class I curriculum and textbook, Samagra Shiksha Kerala has prepared a readiness package for the implementation of the first two weeks of the academic year under the name 'Onnorukkam' for the year 2025-26.
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The Hindu
41 minutes ago
- The Hindu
In Telangana, teacher training is a continuous, classroom-centered process
'A good teacher builds a better harvest than a good monsoon,' goes an old saying in Telangana's villages. Students thrive not just from resources or policy, but from skilled, supported, and trusted teachers and decades of research across the globe confirm this. Yet, despite this clear connection, effective teacher training has remained an elusive goal in India's education system. In recent years, many States have expanded their teacher training efforts. Yet, the challenge has remained: how to move beyond one-off workshops to truly empower teachers in classrooms. Telangana set out to answer that question — by reimagining teacher development not as an event, but as a continuous, classroom-centered process. Its experience offers important insights for the rest of the country. Teacher training a missed opportunity A large study by the Institute for Multi-sensory Education found that high-quality teacher development can boost student achievement by 21 percentage points. Another meta-analysis across 60 studies showed that structured coaching raised instructional quality by 20 percentage points, and student scores by 7–8 points—especially in critical early literacy skills. Yet, India's teacher training story has often been a litany of missed opportunities. A 2016 NCERT review found that most in-service trainings were one-off lectures, unconnected to teachers' real struggles. Needs assessments were sporadic, follow-up was rare, and cascade models — designed to spread training — often diluted quality by the time help reached classrooms. Telangana was no exception. Over almost a decade, despite running large-scale training sessions, learning levels remained stubbornly low with a declining trend. While the textbooks were thoughtfully designed, teachers struggled to bring them to life in the classroom, having never been trained to transact them in their true spirit—often rushing through content without knowing if real learning was taking place. It was clear: training teachers for a day wasn't enough. They needed to be equipped, supported, and trusted every day. In 2022, Telangana turned the mirror inward and asked its teachers a simple but powerful question: 'What do you need?' Their answers were poignant — and surprisingly simple. 'We have the textbooks and materials — we just don't know if we're using them the right way to actually help children learn.' The response led to a quiet revolution. A revamped training program First, new easy-to-use Teacher Handbooks in Telugu, Urdu, English, and Mathematics were launched to guide lesson delivery and make textbooks transactions easier. Paired with Student Workbooks aligned to Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN) goals, this shift moved the system from rote curriculum coverage to competency-based learning, giving teachers a way to monitor student progress every day. Next, Telangana redesigned how it trained its teachers. In 2023, building on this momentum, over 48,000 primary teachers participated in a revamped training program. For the first time, the focus was not on abstract theory but on real challenges. Teachers were encouraged to bring their handbooks into the training hall and refer to them throughout. Mandal-level trainers underwent in-depth orientations and received structured trainer kits with presentations, demonstration videos, and activities — shifting the format from lecture to dialogue. For instance, instead of simply being told how to 'teach place value,' trainers walked teachers through an actual classroom demonstration: using small sticks bundled in tens to make the concept tangible for young children. Teachers practiced these techniques themselves, received feedback, and were equipped to replicate them in their own classrooms. But the most radical change came after the workshops ended. Continuous professional development Instead of leaving teachers to fend for themselves, Telangana built a support system in the field. Middle management officials including the Mandal Educational Officers and the Complex Head Masters, visited classrooms, observed lessons, offered feedback, and nudged teachers toward excellence. Over one lakh classroom observations were conducted — not to police teachers, but to support them. Despite slight hiccups in 2024 — most rightly due to long-pending systemic reforms such as teacher transfers and promotions — the State stayed the course. These reforms, while temporarily slowing down classroom support and momentum, were critical for restoring fairness and morale in the system. And finally, in 2025, Telangana took the entire teacher development effort to the next level. For the first time in the past decade, a five-day, statewide training was held during the summer holidays — ensuring teachers have uninterrupted time to engage deeply, reflect, and prepare before the academic year began. The training design was rooted in evidence drawn from a large-scale sample study conducted by the SCERT in March 2025. The data revealed specific areas where students struggled and where teachers felt stuck. Every session was aligned with these findings and mirrored real classroom situations, so that teachers could connect, practice, and apply. In effect, the classroom walked into the training hall — and that made all the difference. More importantly, every session was tied to real classroom challenges. Technology was seamlessly woven into the entire process. Pre- and post-assessments tracked what was working — and what wasn't, attendance was digitally tracked. Teachers were awarded digital completion certificates, acknowledging their effort and commitment. This structured and tech-enabled approach ensured accountability while also respecting teachers as professionals. Today, around 78% of teachers show improvement in post-training assessments. Most importantly, teachers find themselves more confident to transact a lesson which would further have an impact on the student learning outcomes. To complement these efforts, Telangana has been working on a blended Continuous Professional Development (CPD) platform to empower teachers to continue their learning journeys, choosing courses based on their needs — a quiet nod to respecting teachers as professionals, not passive recipients. (Dr. IV Subba Rao is a retired IAS Officer and Senior Advisor, Central Square Foundation. Suresh Ghattamaneni is an Associate Director at Central Square Foundation)
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
No contempt if Parliament, legislatures simply make laws: Supreme Court
The Supreme Court has said any law made by Parliament or a State legislature cannot be held to contempt of court. A Bench comprising Justices B.V. Nagarathna and Satish Chandra Sharma made the observation while disposing of a 2012 contempt plea filed by sociologist and former Delhi University professor Nandini Sundar and others. The contempt plea alleged failure of the Chhattisgarh government to comply with its 2011 directions to stop support to vigilante groups such as Salwa Judum and arming tribals in the name of special police officers (SPO) in the fight against Maoists. The petition contended that there has been contempt of the order of the apex court as the Chhattisgarh government has legislated the Chhattisgarh Auxiliary Armed Police Force Act, 2011 which authorised an auxiliary armed force to assist security forces in dealing with Maoist/Naxal violence and legalising existing SPOs by inducting them as members. Besides accusing the Chhattisgarh government of not acknowledging the directions on Salwa Judum, the petitioners said instead of "desisting" from using SPOs and disarming them, the State government passed the "Chhattisgarh Auxiliary Armed Police Force Act, 2011" regularising all SPOs with effect from the date of the top court order on July 5, 2011. They alleged that the State government has also not vacated all school buildings and ashrams from the occupation of the security forces nor has it compensated the victims of Salwa Judum and SPOs. The top court on May 15 said the passing of an enactment subsequent to the order passed by the top court by Chhattisgarh cannot be an act of contempt. Delicate balance The top court said in order to ensure that rule of law permeates to fulfil constitutional objectives of establishing an egalitarian social order, the balance between the respective sovereign functionaries must always be delicately maintained. "Every State Legislature has plenary powers to pass an enactment and so long as the said enactment has not been declared to be ultra vires the Constitution or, in any way, null and void by a constitutional court, the said enactment would have the force of law." The Bench added, "However, if any party wishes that the said Act be struck down for being unconstitutional, then legal remedies in that regard would have to be resorted to before the competent court of law." Considering the situation prevailing in Chhattisgarh over decades, the Bench outlined the need for "specific steps" to bring peace and rehabilitation in the affected areas through coordinated measures of the State and the Central government. "It is the duty of the State of Chhattisgarh as well as the Union of India, having regard to Article 315 of the Constitution, to take adequate steps for bringing about peace and rehabilitation to the residents of State of Chhattisgarh who have been affected by the violence from whatever quarter it may have arisen," the court said. Judiciary is vested under the Constitution with the power to resolve interpretive doubts and disputes about the validity or otherwise of an enacted law by Parliament or any state legislature, the Bench added. "However, the interpretative power of a constitutional court does not contemplate a situation of declaring exercise of legislative functions and passing of an enactment as an instance of a contempt of a court," it noted. The verdict pointed out that central to the legislative function was the power of the legislative organ to enact and amend laws. "Any law made by the Parliament or a State legislature cannot be held to be an act of contempt of a court, including this court, for simply making the law," the Bench said. The top court underlined the legislature's powers to pass a law; to remove the basis of a judgment or in the alternative, validate a law which has been struck down by a constitutional court by amending or varying it so as to give effect to the judgment of a constitutional court which has struck down a portion of an enactment or for that matter the entire enactment. "This is the core of the doctrine of separation of powers and must always be acknowledged in a constitutional democracy such as ours. This doctrine also emphasises on the principle of checks and balances under our Constitution which is a healthy aspect of distribution of powers, particularly legislative powers." The order went on, "Any piece of legislation enacted by a legislature can be assailed within the manner known to law and that is by mounting a challenge against its validity on the twin prongs of legislative competence or constitutional validity."
The Print
an hour ago
- The Print
Result of law and order collapse in Punjab: BJP's Tarun Chugh on Ambedkar statue defacement
An unidentified person defaced Ambedkar's statue with black paint in Nangal village in Phillaur sub-division of Jalandhar district, police said on Monday. In a statement here, the BJP national general secretary alleged that such incidents are a result of 'the complete collapse of law and order' in the state. Chandigarh, Jun 3 (PTI) BJP leader Tarun Chugh on Tuesday condemned the defacement of a statue of B R Ambedkar in Punjab's Jalandhar, saying the incident is a direct assault on the Constitution and the dignity of marginalised citizens who see Babasaheb as their guiding light. Chugh said the incident is not merely an insult to a statue, it is a direct and disgraceful assault on the Constitution of India, principles of social justice and dignity of millions of marginalised citizens who see Babasaheb as their guiding light. This is not an isolated incident. Earlier, a similar shameful incident took place near a police station in Amritsar, he said. 'Each time such incidents occur, the Bhagwant Mann-led Punjab government has chosen to stay silent. This consistent indifference and inaction expose the complete collapse of law and order in the state and reflect a dangerous apathy toward issues that affect the soul of our democracy,' the BJP leader alleged. 'It appears that Bhagwant Mann is either in a deep slumber or is too busy entertaining his Delhi boss Arvind Kejriwal and his political guests to notice what is happening in Punjab,' he said. Chugh said Ambedkar is not just an icon of the marginalised, he is the soul of India, the architect of the Constitution, and a symbol of equality, dignity and justice. 'If today, even his statue is not safe in Punjab, it exposes the glaring failure of this government and its lack of political will to uphold constitutional values,' he claimed. He asked whether Punjab is now heading towards a situation where even the ideals of social justice and harmony are no longer safeguarded. Chugh demanded the immediate arrest of the culprit and strict legal action in the matter. PTI CHS DIV DIV DIV This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
