CTET application process starts, exam on July 28

Will the pass percentage improve at least this time? The process of submission of applications online started on Sunday for the all important Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET), to be conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education. The last date for submission of application is April 16 and the exam would be conducted on July 28 this year. CTET is a highly valued teacher eligibility test and its certificate is accepted by any institution for their recruitment of teacher posts. The standard of the has been so high that just one percent of applicants could pass in the CTET-2012.Ever since its introduction in 2011 by MHRD, the pass percentage has been constantly declining. While the first year saw a success rate of 9%, it has dropped to 7% in the exam conducted in January 2012. The percentage took a nosedive in December 2012 when it registered a disastrously low 0.98%. Educationists across India remarked that it is highly alarming and called for immediate review of B Ed and classroom teaching courses. The complex syllabus and the focus on fundamentals makes it a hard nut to crack, according to applicants. The pass percentage was no better in AP either and more than 97% of those who appeared for it fall flat. "We have TET as well as DSC. We concentrate mostly on these exams and the syllabi is somewhat more in CTET" they explained. The validity period of CTET qualifying certificate is seven years from the date of declaration of its result. A person can make any number of attempts for CTET and there is no restriction. The candidate can apply and appear again even after getting passed for improving his or her score. In AP, candidates have the option of having just three cities as exam centres- Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam. In order to facilitate the candidates to apply online, two centres have been set up viz Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan at Jubilee Hills in Hyderabad and VP Siddharth Public School at Mogalrajapuram in Vijayawada. All questions in CTET test will be Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs), each carrying one mark, with four alternatives out of which one answer will be correct. There will be no negative marking. There will be two papers of CTET, Paper I will be for a person who intends to be a teacher  for classes I to V and Paper II for classes VI to VIII. Those who wish to be teacher for both the levels can take both the exams. All questions will be set from the detailed NCERT syllabus, according to CBSE. The test items on Child Development and Pedagogy will focus on educational psychology of teaching and learning relevant to the age group of 6-11 years. They will focus on understanding the characteristics and needs of diverse learners, interaction with learners and the attributes and qualities of a good facilitator of learning. The aspects in Language I will focus on the proficiencies related to the medium of instruction whereas for language II, it will focus on the elements of language, communication and comprehension abilities. Language II will be a language other than Language I and candidates can choose any one language as Language I and other as Language II from the list. The items in Mathematics and Environmental Studies will focus on the concepts, problem solving abilities and pedagogical understanding of the subjects. In all these subject areas, the test items will be evenly distributed, CBSE said.