Sriram Ayer ruffles many feathers by criticising Gujarati behaviour
In the US and Canada, a vast majority of Gujjus are causing havoc and bringing shame to India. Many struggle with English, don't dress appropriately, speak too loudly, cut in lines, and litter everywhere. I've witnessed their outrageous and entitled behavior firsthand. In Canada,…
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Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
UGC NET June 2025 News: How to download exam city slip, admit card when out
National Testing Agency (NTA) will conduct the University Grants Commission National Eligibility Test or UGC NET June 2025 exam from June 25 to 29. The subject-wise detailed schedule for the exam has been released at and exam city slips and admit cards are expected next. NTA will first release the UGC NET exam city intimation slips, and after that, admit cards. On exam city slips, candidates will learn where their exam centres will be located. The admit card will mention the address of the exam centre, reporting time, paper timings and other details such as exam day instructions. The exam will be held in two shifts- first shift from 9 am to 12 noon and second shift from 3 pm to 6 pm. The UGC NET June question paper will consist of two sections, both of which will consist of objective-type, multiple-choice questions. There will be no break between the two sections. Paper I will consist of questions for 100 marks, and paper II will consist of questions for 200 marks. The question papers will be set in English and Hindi only, except for language papers. Candidates must answer in the medium as per the option exercised in the application forms. 1. Visit the official website of UGC NET at 2. Click on the UGC NET June 2025 admit card or exam city slip download link. 3. Enter your login details. 4. Submit and download the exam city slip. UGC NET is a national-level eligibility test held for- (i) award of Junior Research Fellowship and appointment as Assistant Professor, (ii) appointment as Assistant Professor and admission to Ph.D and (iii) admission to Ph.D only. Candidates can check the official website for more information.
The Hindu
6 hours ago
- The Hindu
What educational institutions need to do for better learning of English among students
Language teaching must be distinct from the teaching of subjects such as Maths, Physics, or Economics. Yet, current practices rarely reflect any such distinction, especially at school level. Language syllabuses outline ambitious objectives and learning outcomes such as to enable learners to become fluent and flawless users and to empower them to be 'autonomous' by mastering the language. They also aim to equip them to employ the language effectively and naturally in both formal and informal contexts. However, at the initial stages (Levels 1 and 2) the basic objective is imparting foundational skills and, by level 3, learners are expected to have acquired the core linguistic skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing (LSRW). Reality today However, today's teaching-learning ecosystem tells us a different story, raising certain poignant questions: if learners have acquired the basic skills, why do teachers continue to reteach them at higher levels? Why aren't they letting learners expand on their own to refine the acquired skills? Isn't the classroom engagement stifling their cognitive development by overemphasising teacher-led instructions? Why do teachers, even at the advanced stages, read texts aloud and explicate them, instead of guiding learners to explore on their own? Shouldn't class-time be devoted to acquainting learners with diverse reading texts and strategies to optimise their efforts? To materialise the stated objectives of teaching-learning of English, overhauling of curriculum is a necessity. The first two of Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing (LSRW) are innate human abilities, while the remaining are acquired skills with reading typically preceding writing. As literacy fundamentally begins with reading, it demands prioritised attention. Instead of labelling classes generically as 'English', timetables should specify the skills being dealt with. Signaling the shift, on each day, a period should be earmarked for a particular skill. Of the five periods in a week, two should be dedicated for Reading, as it is the 'mother of all skills', and one each can be dedicated to Listening, Speaking and Writing. Moreover, reading classes must break free from the dated teacher-centric models. Learners should actively engage in varied activities to turn the grandiose plan of learner-centric and learner-driven approaches a reality. This approach will foster learner 'independence' by shifting them away from teacher dependence. The role of a teacher should be restricted to organising 'tasks' – designing and organising activities in diverse formats such as individual, in pairs, triads, and small groups — ensuring inclusive participation of all. Wide range J.K. Rowling once remarked, 'If you are not interested in reading, you have not found the right book'. In a class of 30 or 40 students, no single text can appeal to all; hence, various kinds must be utilised. This requires an alternative syllabus construction, i.e., inclusion of 'seen' and 'unseen' texts. The 'seen' could be prescribed, but the 'unseen' should be identified by teachers and anchored on students' interests and needs, a practice adopted in progressive institutions. Texts can span both fiction and non-fiction across multiple genres. Fiction, for instance, holds romance, mystery, horror, fantasy, sci-fi, and thrillers; similarly, non-fiction ranges from autobiographies, biographies, self-help, and travelogues, spiritual to scientific writings. Familiarity with this wide variety can facilitate learners to choose whatever interests them. Adults in their 40s and 50s confess that they may have read about 500 books, mostly during their school and college days. This establishes the criticality of student days, for what they were to become later in their lives. Reading, after all, is not just decoding but also involves comprehension, reflection and imagination, which enables them to be thinkers. So, to maximise their efforts, besides the text types, they must be introduced to strategies such as skimming, scanning, previewing, predicting, questioning, and inferencing. Mastery of these will accelerate the reading of more books with less time. For slogans such as 'job-ready', 'future-ready', or prepare for 'non-existent jobs', reading skills are the true foundation. 'Read to lead, and lead to read' is the maxim. As language is for communicative purposes, 'noisy classes' are the norm. So, the cliched ideal of 'pin-drop silence' must be militated against. The censure of inability to acquire English is not owing to learners' incapacity, but systemic shortcomings. The question remains: Are we truly ready to handle English courses differently? Subjects can be learnt through textbooks, but language demands efforts beyond textbooks, beyond teacher and classroom. The more one reads, the better they become. The writer is a retired Professor of English and Chief Executive Chair of the English Language Teachers' Association of India
Indian Express
10 hours ago
- Indian Express
CISCE Class 10th ICSE, 12th ISC 2025 improvement exam time tables out
The Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE) which administers the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) Class 10 and Indian School Certificate (ISC) Class 12 annual exams, on June 13 announced the exam dates for the 2025 improvement exams. The ICSE Class 10 and ISC Class 12 exams will be held from July 1. The detailed time table is available on the official website – The Class 10 exams will begin with English language – English paper 1 and environmental science on the first day of exam. The Class 10 ICSE exam will conclude on July 14. The Class 12 exams will start with the mathematics, environmental science, sociology and legal studies papers. The Class 12 exams will end on July 17. In the ICSE and ISC improvement exams, candidates will be given the opportunity to improve their marks and grades. Candidates are allowed to appear in a maximum of two subjects. The ISC Class 12 exams were started on February 13, 2025, and concluded on April 5, 2025. The ICSE Class 10 exams started on February 18 and ended on March 27, 2025. The CISCE results for both classes were declared on April 30. The ICSE Class 10 exam was conducted in 67 written subjects, of which 20 were Indian languages 14 were foreign languages and one was a classical language. The ISC Class 12 exam was conducted in 47 written subjects, 12 of them Indian languages, four foreign languages and two classical languages. A total of 2,52,557 students from 2,803 schools took the Class 10 exams, of which 2,308 students could not clear the exams. Out of 1,184 students who had learning difficulties such as dyslexia, 112 have scored above 90 per cent. 13 out of 48 visually challenged candidates scored above 90 per cent. The western region has achieved the best pass percentage in Class 10 exams at 99.83 per cent, followed by the southern region with a pass percentage of 99.73 per cent. In the class 10 exams, the pass percentage of girls stood at 99.45 per cent while that of boys was marginally lower at 98.64 per cent. In the ISC Class 12 exams, there were 99,551 students from 1,460 schools, and 973 of them could not clear the test. Girls performed better than boys in class 12 too, with girls' pass percentage at 99.45 per cent and boys' pass percentage at 98.64 per cent. Among the 257 otal students with learning difficulties who appeared for the Class 12 exams, 29 students scored above 90 per cent. Six out of 17 visually challenged candidates scored above 90 per cent. The southern region has the best pass percentage at 99.76 per cent in class 12 results, followed by the western region with a pass percentage of 99.72 per cent. The CISCE in 2024 discontinued compartment exams. Instead, they introduced the re-evaluation of answer scripts and improvement exams for students who wish to improve their marks in the same year of the examination. The CISCE improvement exams can be taken in a maximum of two subjects.
