State Government of Gujarat - SCOPE
The Society for Creation of Opportunity through Proficiency in English (SCOPE) has been setup by the Government of Gujarat to build English language proficiency in the youth of Gujarat and thereby provide employment opportunities for the youth.
Cambridge Assessment English developed a new test for SCOPE called the Gujarat English Language Test. This test assesses ability related to the lower range of levels set out in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Those candidates demonstrating higher level language abilities than tested by the Gujarat English Language Test have the opportunity to take up the Cambridge Placement Test or the BULATS Online Tests. All candidates also take up the BULATS online speaking test thereby providing a comprehensive assessment of all four skills.
These tests are being subsidised by the Gujarat state government and are available to all members of the public.
More about the SCOPE project
Anna University – Coimbatore, India
Anna University – Coimbatore, a prestigious Technical University in Tamil Nadu, undertook a program to develop the Business English language skills of their engineering students in order to improve their employment opportunities .Anna University- Coimbatore integrated BULATS as part of their curriculum thereby enabling students’ Business English skills to be mapped to international standards while fulfilling their university transcript requirements.
Students at the University’s affiliated colleges follow a business English language syllabus developed for Anna University by EBEK Language Laboratories. The Business Language Testing Service standard test (Reading and Listening) is then taken at the end of the first semester and the Writing and speaking tests taken at the end of the second semester.
In the first year around 19,000 candidates took the Business Language Testing Service tests and over 70,000 students from colleges affiliated with Anna University have now used the programme to improve their business English.
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Tech Mahindra Foundation, Corporation of Chennai
Cambridge Assessment English, together with the Tech Mahindra Foundation and Cambridge University Press, are working with the Corporation of Chennai on a professional development programme for the city’s English language teachers.
The professional development programme is funded by the Tech Mahindra Foundation, established by the multinational conglomerate Mahindra Group in order to support its CSR (corporate social responsibility) initiatives. The aim is to increase the linguistic and pedagogical competence of primary and secondary school English language teachers, and to identify those teachers with the potential to become master trainers, thereby enabling Chennai’s teaching profession to become self-reliant in training and development.
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Confederation of Indian Industry
Cambridge Assessment English used its Business Language Testing Service English test (BULATS) to provide the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) with an English language benchmarking tool.
CII had identified English language ability as a key skill for Indian economic development, particularly in the retail, and travel and tourism sectors. Here, poor English skills were proving a barrier to communication, and thereby affecting economic growth. Line managers in both sectors also valued English skills, given the frequent use of English in formal communication within companies, and with clients and partners. In 2009, CII set up a programme designed to address this issue; a reliable and trusted assessment tool was required to launch the programme, and BULATS English, from Cambridge Assessment English, was identified as the ideal solution.
More about the Confederation of Indian Industry project
INTACEL and Pune Municipal Corporation
English language academy INTACEL is using Pre A1 Starters, from Cambridge Assessment English, as the core of an English language teaching programme for underprivileged primary students in Pune, India.
English is a mandatory subject for primary school children in Pune, but despite great enthusiasm among teachers and students, levels of English teaching – and therefore achievement – have been disappointingly low. Since 2010, however, English language teaching academy INTACEL has been working with the Pune Municipal Corporation to improve primary English teaching and learning by using the Pre A1 Starters test, from Cambridge Assessment English, to provide both an engaging and relevant teaching programme and the credibility of external assessment from an internationally renowned organisation. Pre A1 Starters – the first of three levels designed to develop primary school English skills – is ideal for Pune primary students, whose English is very limited, and is also an ideal fit with INTACEL’s integrated teaching approach which focuses on the four key language skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing.
More about the Pune Municipal Corporation project