Varsities to soon enrol students in English proficiency classes

These would add to the 216 existing DELLs (such centres are housed in colleges) and 425 training centres operating out of various centres across the state,he said. Sharma added that this capacity will also be enhanced as the entire process of training and end-of-session tests are expected to be computerised,while the old format costs more and requires more time,as it is not fully computerised.

SCOPE courses are divided into levels,with each level consisting of two 90-hour (roughly two-and-a-half month) sessions,including examinations.

Due to government subsidies,SCOPE charges Rs 1,200 plus service tax for each 90-hour session. Some private English language courses charge up to Rs 20,000 or more.

SCOPE had in 2007 asked Cambridge University to conduct a study of Gujarat and the university came up with a customised version of its Cambridge ESOL course. Participants who pass the final assessment are awarded the Cambridge ESOL certificate. The university’s website states that 12,000 “employees,universities and government bodies around the world” have accepted the English proficiency programme.

Till date,.52 lakh people have received A and B level certificates from the SCOPE programmes.

Sharma said SCOPE has also put in place special packages for college students now that a large number of them are expected to join these courses due to the new UGC mandate. These include an Only Assessment Scheme (OAS) and an Only Training Scheme (OTS).

The OAS will cost Rs 200 and comprise the assessment component for students who feel they are good at English but want to get the certificate for various reasons,while OTS will include only the training module without examination,and cost Rs 900 for B level (the higher level) and Rs 600 for A level.