Published Online:September 2025
Product Name:The IUP Journal of English Studies
Product Type:Article
Product Code:IJES110925
DOI:10.71329/IUPJES/2025.20.3.117-125
Author Name:Vijay Kumar Roy
Availability:YES
Subject/Domain:Arts and Humanities
Download Format:PDF
Pages:117-125
This paper explores the status of English in higher education in rural and semi-urban areas in India (Y and Z categories as per the classification of cities/towns by the Government of India) and the relevance of the present professional development system for English teachers. It also identifies new avenues to address the challenges at the national and global levels. Besides the selected courses offered by the UGC-MMTTC (UGC-Malaviya Mission Teacher Training Centers, formerly UGC-Human Resource Development Centers) and Swayam, the paper also explores the courses offered online and offline by top-ranking universities worldwide designed for the professional development of English teachers. The paper focuses on both pre-service and in-service training opportunities for English teachers to address the challenges in teaching language, literature, and other English courses at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
The global importance and dominance of the English language in almost all fields cannot be ignored in the present age. Even in the context of a multicultural and multilingual nation like India which has got the New Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020) emphasizing local language/regional language as a medium of instruction (Para 3.5, 11; Para 4.11, 13), overlooking the English language can give worse results in the long run because the students today do not confine themselves to their own nation for higher education, jobs and businesses.