Board plans ‘holistic' progress cards for students
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BSE president Subrat Tarai said the new evaluation model will be implemented across all 9,933 schools affiliated to the board. The HPC will assess students on 41 parameters, including cognitive abilities, physical fitness, creativity, life skills, emotional development and social behaviour.
Tarai emphasised the importance of evaluating students on various fronts, such as teamwork and critical thinking, to reflect their true potential.
He said the holistic assessment aligns with the National Education Policy (NEP) and offers a broader picture of a student's development.
Schools will be equipped with the necessary services to implement the system, and scores will be finalised under BSE supervision. Workshops will be conducted to train teachers and educational experts on the HPC format and its application. A special HPC marksheet format will also be provided to all schools.
Additionally, the board plans to integrate the matriculation certificate verification process with the HPC system to enhance transparency and student tracking. Officials said the initiative will improve student learning outcomes and reduce exam-centric stress, promoting a more inclusive and balanced education model.
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Time of India
3 hours ago
- Time of India
UGC NET sees 14% rise in PhD qualifiers, but 6% JRF cap may hinder research growth
Experts warn of research quality decline as JRF funding lags behind PhD demand. (AI Image) Over 1.28 lakh candidates qualified for PhD admissions in UGC NET 2025 exams, yet only 5,269 secured JRF Signalling a growing academic interest in doctoral research, over 1.28 lakh candidates qualified for PhD admissions in the recently declared UGC NET June 2025 results. This witnessed a 14% rise from the previous year, however, only 5,269 candidates secured the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF), a figure that remains disproportionately low. Out of 1,88,333 candidates who cleared NET this cycle, only 5,269 qualified for both JRF and Assistant Professor eligibility, 54,885 qualified for Assistant Professorship alone, and the remaining 1,28,179 fell under the newly introduced 'PhD-only' category. This structural change, introduced in 2023 to allow candidates with NET scores to apply for PhD programmes without necessarily being eligible for teaching or research fellowships, has expanded the pathway to doctoral study, but not the financial support required to sustain it. However, without enough financial support, many deserving students are being left out, which also impacts the long-term research goals under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Speaking to Education Times, Brajesh Kumar Tiwari, associate professor, Atal School of Management, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi, says, "The growing gap between UGC NET-qualified PhD aspirants and JRF awardees may harm India's research future and quality. While over 1.28 lakh candidates are now eligible for PhD admissions, only 4.1% have secured JRFs. This means several students lack the full-time funding essential for sustained research." Research in Social Sciences, Humanities, and other core disciplines require intensive focus. He says, "Without funding, many scholars take to teaching or work part-time, diluting their research output. This risks making research more quantity-driven than quality-oriented." Eligibility Expands Prof Tiwari says, "The 14% increase in PhD eligibility has been driven by several factors, including the updated UGC regulations in 2023 that permitted candidates to use their NET scores for both PhD admission and Assistant Professor roles. "This dual-benefit model made NET more attractive. Meanwhile, All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) data shows postgraduate enrolment rising from 43.8 lakh in 2020-21 to 45.7 lakh in 2022-23. A larger postgraduate base leads to higher NET participation. Yet, while eligibility has expanded, financial support has not kept pace. Despite a growing number of PhD students, rising from 1.69 lakh in 2014-15 to over 2.2 lakh in 2022-23, the annual JRF awards have stagnated between 5,000 and 9,000 for the past decade." Fellowship Limitations Budgetary limitations, the current JRF award model, are some of the reasons for this stagnation. "In the 2024-25 Union Budget, the UGC received Rs 4,066 crore, a marginal decrease from Rs 4,093 crore in the previous year. With much of this allocated to salaries and infrastructure, little remains for expanding fellowships. Meanwhile, the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF), a flagship NEP 2020 initiative meant to boost research funding, is yet to be operationalised. The delay in ANRF rollout has stalled the research funding setup," says Tiwari. The current JRF award model limits fellowships to the top 6% of candidates in each subject-category combination. Prof Tiwari says, "This percentage remains constant regardless of how many high-performing candidates there are or how much higher education enrolment has grown. This creates artificial cutoffs, excluding many deserving scholars. Globally, countries such as Germany and the UK adjust fellowship numbers based on actual doctoral demand and research priorities. India must adopt a more dynamic and responsive system." Some top institutions, including IITs, IISc, TIFR, IISERs, JNU, Delhi University, and the University of Hyderabad, offer internal fellowships and research or teaching assistantships. However, these are limited in scale and mostly confined to central institutions. "Internal support varies widely across institutions and disciplines. To address the funding gap, the UGC and Ministry of Education must incentivise and fund state universities to launch standardised, well-supported assistantship programmes at scale," says Prof Tiwari. 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Collaboration between academia and industry, as seen in global universities, should be encouraged. Government funding remains crucial, as institutional fellowships are often far below JRF levels and not sustainable in the long term. Several Indian universities have had to suspend their internal research support due to lack of funds." JRF plays an important role in enabling scholars, especially from economically weaker backgrounds, to pursue research without financial insecurity. "Without such support, many capable students are forced to abandon their academic goals for paying jobs. This results in a research ecosystem dominated by the privileged communities," she says. Creating a Bottleneck For Prashant Kumar, a recent UGC NET qualifier in Economics, the gap in financial support has posed hurdles. Prashant, hailing from Bihar, says, "There has been a sharp increase in students appearing for the UGC NET, from around 4.5 lakh in June 2023 to nearly 7.5 lakh in June 2025. But the number of JRFs has not changed. Without fellowships, full-time research is only possible for the financially secure. The rest are forced to either drop out, go part-time, or struggle under financial stress. " Prashant adds that while central research bodies such as ICSSR and DBT offer fellowships, their numbers are extremely limited, and the selection process highly competitive. "A few universities offer internal assistantships, but these are not uniformly available," he says, adding, "This uneven landscape means one's access to research funding often depends on where they study." Prashant who relied entirely on self-study, YouTube lectures, and past year papers, says, "Even after qualifying NET multiple times, I have not managed to qualify for JRF. I have taken the exam six times since December 2022, and except for my first attempt, I have cleared all others." Ready to navigate global policies? Secure your overseas future. Get expert guidance now!
New Indian Express
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- New Indian Express
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The Hindu
a day ago
- The Hindu
Elephant relocated to Gujarat facility run by Vantara from Kolhapur; devotees bid emotional adieu
People gave an emotional farewell to a 36-year-old female elephant, Mahadevi, at a mutt in Maharashtra's Kolhapur as the tusker moved to a new home, a Jamnagar-based animal welfare facility. The elephant was transferred to representatives of the Radhe Krishna Elephant Welfare Trust run by Vantara, an animal welfare centre in Jamnagar, Gujarat, from the Kolhapur mutt on Monday. The relocation took place after the Supreme Court dismissed a petition filed by the mutt, challenging the Bombay High Court order upholding the decision of a High Powered Committee (HPC) to relocate the animal to the Gujarat facility. The pachyderm was given an emotional farewell by devotees of Swasthishri Jinsen Bhattarak Pattacharya Mahaswami Sanstha, a religious body, as well as residents of Nandani village under Karvir tehsil of Kolhapur late Monday evening. On July 16, the HC upheld the HPC's decision to relocate the jumbo to the Gujarat-based facility, citing an elephant's right to quality life must take precedence over humans' right to use it for religious purposes. A Bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Neela Gokhale noted in their order that the mental and physical health of the elephant -- Mahadevi alias Madhuri -- suffered when it was with a Kolhapur-based trust. The court dismissed a petition filed by the mutt against December 2024 and June 2025 orders passed by the HPC to transfer the elephant to the Radhe Krishna Elephant Welfare Trust. According to officials, the elephant will reach the Gujarat facility on Wednesday in an animal ambulance. A large number of villagers came to bid farewell to the elephant with whom they developed a bond over the last several years. The original transfer was ordered following a complaint lodged by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India about the animal's condition. The Kolhapur-based trust contended it owned the elephant since 1992, and its presence at religious programmes was a part of a tradition. But the High Court cited a June 2024 report about the elephant's health, diet and nutrition, social environment, hygiene and cleanliness of shelter, veterinary care and work schedule, and said they "appear to be absolutely dismal". As per the report, the elephant suffered from "decubital ulcerated wounds" on its hip joints and a few other body parts.
