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Hundreds of students from the Physical Education department at Banaras Hindu University protested loudly and incessantly in front of the Vice Chancellor's residence, demanding immediate action because their degrees were left out of the recent national recruitment drives.

Students of BPED and MPED courses picketed the residence of the Vice Chancellor early this morning, accusing the national recruitment bodies of overlooking their NCTE-approved degrees.

They said their cases had been declared ineligible for the vacancies released under NVS and EMRS examinations without fair grounds, thereby causing much anxiety relating to their career prospects.

Many students carried placards and shouted slogans demanding that the university intervene without further delay. They said despite completing two years of rigorous academic and practical training, they are being denied the opportunity to apply for teaching posts to which they are fully qualified.

STUDENTS SAY EXCLUSION THREATENS THEIR FUTURE

According to students, BHU-offered courses of BPED and MPED were not recognized in the recently-published recruitment lists. They said that it was unjustified since the programs had been approved by the National Council for Teacher Education.

They said the decision has put their future in jeopardy and demanded that the university ensure their degrees were recognized in all national-level recruitment processes.

A number of students present later described feeling "deeply disappointed" and "betrayed" because they felt their hard work was being dismissed.

VICE CHANCELLOR MEETS STUDENT DELEGATION 

As the agitation continued to swell, a delegation of students met the Vice Chancellor, who assured them that he would look into the matter urgently. He ordered concerned officials to initiate necessary steps and said two students and two teachers would be sent to Delhi to represent their cause before the Ministry. However, students said no such assurance had been given in writing so far. They said unless an official confirmation was issued and a delegation sent to Delhi for the same, they would not withdraw their protest.

 PROCTORIAL BOARD TRIES TO APPEASE PROTEST 

Officials from the Proctorial Board and faculty members reached the spot to pacify the crowd. Despite their efforts, the students maintained that they would not step back until their demands were formally acknowledged. They said rejection of their degrees at the time of job applications was not acceptable and immediate corrective action was called for.

If you are a student-or a parent-December 2025 is turning out to be one of the most-awaited months of the year. With winter vacations lined up, Christmas celebrations, and New Year holidays, schools across India are preparing for one of the longest year-end breaks in recent years. While several states have released detailed holiday notifications, many others will likely do so soon with temperatures falling and festivals nearing.

Christmas & New Year Holidays Nationwide

While Christmas on December 25 is a compulsory holiday for all schools across India, many this year are extending the holidays by declaring Christmas Eve on December 24 and New Year's Eve on December 31 as additional closure days. For most regions, January 1, 2026, will fall on a Friday and be declared another public holiday, giving students a long weekend-if not full a week-off.

December 24: Christmas Eve

Although not a statutory national holiday, Christmas Eve is a restricted holiday according to the official calendar of the Government of India. Many schools in North India are expected to declare a holiday on Christmas Eve.

December 25: Christmas

Christmas Day has remained a holiday in all schools in the country. In many states, winter break is considered to begin on this day, though many schools return to school after one or two days of holiday.

December 31: New Year's Eve

This implies that most schools close early for New Year's Eve and only open after the holiday, January 1st. This tradition is likely to happen in 2025 to allow students an easy transition into 2026.

State-Wise School Holiday Updates

Students in UP are in for a long winter break.

All government and private schools: December 20 - December 31

Schools of PM Shri: Closed from December 23 to January 1, 2026

In fact, the extended schedule represents one of the longest winter holiday blocks in the state's recent calendar.

Jammu & Kashmir

With temperatures recording several degrees below zero in Kashmir and parts of Jammu, the full winter schedule has been rolled out by the School Education Department.

Balvatika (pre-primary) : holidays from Nov 26, 2025 – Feb 28, 2026

• Classes 1 to 8: Dec 1, 2025 – Feb 28, 2026
• Classes 9 to 12: Holidays from Dec 11, 2025 – Feb 22, 2026

Kashmir being a place with extreme climatic conditions, has the longest winter break in India. Why December 2025 is special for students December might not have many national holidays, but regional calendars and extreme winter conditions in the north coupled with year-end festivals will ensure that students across India get one of the most relaxed month-end schedules of the year. With travel, festivals, and family get-togethers peaking in December, this extended break is expected to be welcomed by millions of students and parents. If you are planning trips, revisions of exams or year-end events, December 2025 will give you the perfect window.

Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party and Hindu right-wing groups have been claiming that the the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence was operating without any funding from the country's only Muslim-majority government, documents show that the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University which runs the institute continued to receive official financial support even when the erstwhile state was bifurcated and downgraded into two Union Territories.

A medical institute in Jammu's Reasi district is at the eye of a raging storm in J&K after the BJP supported a call by some Sangh Parivar affiliates to reserve the MBBS quota of 50 seats at the institute for Hindus only.

The right-wing groups have claimed that the institute runs with the donations of Hindu devotees; however, official documents show that it is managed by the multi-disciplinary SMVD University, which received Rs 121.30 crore ‘grants-in-aid’ from J&K government since 2017-18.

Along with some other educational institutions, the government medical colleges in Srinagar and Jammu are managed by the University of Kashmir and the University of Jammu, respectively, which also received ‘grants in aid’ from the J&K government during this time period.

The Comptroller and Auditor General defines 'grants-in-aid' as "financial assistance, donations or contributions" which are given by the Centre and state governments to universities, hospitals, co-operative institutions and others "for meeting their day-to-day operating expenses".

These grants fall under three separate object heads – ‘Grants-in-aid General’, ‘Grants for creation of Capital Assets’ and ‘Grants-in-aid Salaries’.

The process of giving ‘grants-in-aid’ to the university began in the year 2017 when the saffron party was in power in the Jammu and Kashmir state along with the Peoples Democratic Party-led government headed by Mehbooba Mufti.

The medical institute was stormed last week by Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Rashtriya Bajrang Dal, and other affiliates of the Hindu right-wing that demanded the expulsion of 42 Muslim students, mostly from Kashmir who were selected for MBBS at the institute based on their NEET rankings.

Later, J&K BJP leaders led by LoP Sunil Sharma presented a memorandum to lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha, demanding reservation of the seats in the institute for Hindu students only, a move which was condemned by all the political parties in the Union Territory.

J&K chief minister Abdullah said on Tuesday, November 25, that Sharma should push the BJP-led Union government to declare the university as a minority institution. “But do keep in mind your role when you raise fingers on Muslims and allege that they have become communal, sectarian and do not tolerate others,” he said.

Article 30 of the Constitution, along with guidelines by the Supreme Court, empowers the country's minorities to set up their own educational institutions where up to 50 percent seats can be reserved for students from that particular community.

However, SMVD University is not a minority institution.

The medical institute, constructed on a 34-acre land parcel belonging to the SMVD shrine board, was allowed by the National Medical Commission on September 8 this year to open admissions for 50 MBBS seats for the 2025-26 academic session.

According to its official website, it intends to expand to 100 MBBS seat capacity by the third year and would also set up a dental college and a paramedical college. Among the faculty members presently working at the institute, some are Muslims. Hitting out at the BJP, senior National Conference leader Tanvir Sadiq said that the grants received by the university from J&K government, "clearly proves the institution (medical institute) isn't running on donations alone". “And when public money is involved, every citizen of this UT has an equal right to be there - irrespective of religion or background,” Sadiq, the NC’s chief spokesperson, said in a post on X.

In an ambitious endeavor aimed at equipping the country's schoolteachers for the future, the University Grants Commission has called upon all HEIs in the country to recommend teaching faculty willing and ready to serve as national mentors under the National Mission for Mentoring.

The initiative has been instituted under the umbrella of the National Education Policy 2020, representing a partnership between the National Council for Teacher Education and the Department of School Education & Literacy, which envisages a strong national mentoring network with the capability to contribute to the enhancement of teacher professional development throughout the country.

The directive requires that each HEI should select a faculty member who expresses interest and shows an inclination for mentoring and guiding schoolteachers.

The mission contemplates a pool of 1,000 national mentors who would support, advise, and collaborate with the about 95 lakh school teachers in India-whether permanent, contractual or para-teachers like Shiksha Mitra and Niyojit Shikshak.

WHAT THE MISSION WILL DO

The Bluebook for NMM, prepared by NCTE, lays out a detailed, structured road-map of how the mentoring mission shall be rolled out.

Some of the key features:

The mentors will resource schoolteachers on personal guidance, facilitation, reflection, and sharing of best practices.

A variety of resources will be created and translated targeting different mentoring contexts. Capacity building of mentors, awards/certificates, and non-monetary incentives will also be considered.

Technology-enabled platforms and networks enable interactions between mentors and mentees across geographies.

Ongoing evaluation, feedback by mentors and mentees, and institutionalization of the mentoring structures are emphasized.

At this scale, and with approximately 95 lakh teachers in the country, decentralized, peer-driven continuous professional support is urgent and strategic.

It calls upon HEIs for faculty nominations. In doing so, UGC draws upon the pool of mentoring talent in the higher education ecosystem to link experienced professionals with school-level practitioners from across the country.

WHAT A FACULTY NEEDS TO KNOW

According to UGC notification, institutions should be looking at teaching faculty that:

Demonstrate willingness and aptitude to mentor teachers

Have a history of participation in professional development and support of one's peers Are you willing to be onboarded into the NMM mentoring network? For individual faculty members considering nomination: Realize that the role of mentorship is not just a title; it is an active engagement, mentorship, and collaboration with mentees who are schoolteachers. Be prepared for training, onboarding, and perhaps technology-enabled mentoring sessions. Appreciate that this is a service to the teaching-learning ecosystem. Recognition, though non-monetary, may be part of the framework. Looking Ahead With HEIs now being asked to nominate mentors, the National Mission for Mentoring is all set to move from mere conceptualisation into actual implementation. The real test will be in how the mentor-mentee network is operationalized, how mentorship interactions are sustained, and how outcomes in teacher professional growth and student learning are tracked. If done successfully, this may be a big leap forward in teacher professional development in India, using peer-led mentoring and institutional collaboration at scale.

The Council of Higher Secondary Education on Monday said nearly four lakh Plus II students have registered themselves to appear for the Annual Higher Secondary Examination, 2026.

CHSE controller of exams Prasanta Kumar Parida said a total of 3,98,582 students including 24,672 ex-regulars have completed the form fill-up to appear for the Plus II exams. These include 2,54,326 students in arts stream, 24,368 in commerce, 1,14,001 in science and 5,887 in vocational education stream who have completed their form fill-up.

A CHSE official said the council has planned to declare the AHSE-2026 schedule on December 3. The examination is likely to start after middle of February next year. According to the new guidelines notified by the CHSE recently, the Class XII students in higher secondary schools will also have to clear their internal assessment and project examination papers compulsorily for qualifying the AHSE.

The internal assessment of 20 marks and 10-mark project examination will be held for Class XII students of all streams at higher secondary school level from December 22 to 31. The students who fail to appear any of these exam papers in the first chance in December, will be given a second chance to clear it between January 10 and 15 next year.

The practical examinations for the ensuing Plus II exams will also be held from January 2 to January 15 next year, said council officials.

ACF, an umbrella body representing Christian communities and minority educational rights across the state, expressed deep concern on November 25 over the state cabinet’s decision to table the Assam Private Educational Institutions (Regulation of Fees) Amendment Bill, 2025, in the ongoing winter session of the assembly.

The Forum said the bill threatens to dismantle long-standing protections enjoyed by minority-run schools and is a significant shift from the earlier hands-off approach adopted by the government.

ACF Chairman Archbishop John Moolachira said the proposed amendment gives the state "sweeping powers" to regulate fee structures, monitor collections, and intervene in the internal functioning of such schools at any time.

Terming the move a "direct attack" on the autonomy of the Christian missionary institutions, the Archbishop said these centres of learning have served as "pillars of education in Assam for over a century". According to him, the bill undermines their ability to maintain operations aligned with their values and a sustained service-oriented model. "We are pained and feel intimidated. These schools are not businesses but nation builders, preserving identity, language, and culture through education," he said.

The ACF warned that if it were to be denied the right to determine reasonable fees, minority-run institutions would not be able to pay their teachers and maintain infrastructure, and continue providing scholarships to thousands of poor students from tribal and remote areas. 

The ACF further appealed for amendments that could protect the rights of the minority, asking the government to reconsider the bill. “Include our voices in whatever oversight mechanism and protect our autonomy,” the Archbishop said. The ACF was formed in 1995 as a non-profit coalition of Christian leaders, educators and community groups pursuing common goals of justice, education, and interfaith dialogue in Assam.