What is unique about the TPO – the Teaching Professionals’ Olympiad?
CENTA Teaching Professionals’ Olympiad TPO2015 is a first-of-its-kind national competition for teachers across India. While the purpose is to recognize and felicitate outstanding teachers, CENTA TPO2015 is a unique and exciting test for teachers for a few reasons. The test is standards-based and through that grounded in best practices and relevant research. It is applicable across boards and types of syllabi. Additionally, the test innovatively assesses teaching practice through situation responses.
What is the benefit to me, a teacher, participating in the TPO?
First, you get the opportunity to win some very exciting prizes, including participation in an international conference, and national recognition. Second, every teacher will get a Personalized Performance report providing details and analysis of your performance and how it compares to other test takers. Third, the TPO is step 1 for CENTA certification which is a professional certificate for teaching professionals. Further, teachers serving low income children are additionally eligible for certain “social impact” awards.
Why is it interesting for us, a school, to encourage our teachers to participate in the TPO?
TPO allows schools to create opportunities for their teachers at a national level, which are often difficult to create otherwise – e.g. participation in an international conference, profiling in a national newspaper and so on. The school (or B.Ed./D.Ed. college) also gets recognized along with each winning teacher. HCL has also offered a few prizes for schools with the top 10 winners and the school with the maximum number of teachers in the top 500 ranks. Further, encouraging teachers to participate in the TPO is a positive step in every school’s efforts to encourage professional development of their teachers. Every teacher who participates in CENTA TPO2015 gets a detailed confidential performance report which can give focused direction to their own professional development. All schools which have more than 10 teachers participating in the TPO will also receive a summarized report of their teachers’ performance (without details of individual teachers).
I am not used to working on computers. Will I be able to take the TPO?
The computer interface for the TPO is very simple and you only need to click on the right answer choice in each question (you can use pen and paper to do your roughwork). The website provides a sample of the interface, which you can use for practicing.
How long is the TPO test and can I take it at home if I have an internet connection?
The TPO is a 2-hour long test (plus a 15-minute feedback survey) and there are no section-wise limits within that. The test needs to be taken at a centre as given in the hall ticket issued before the exam, and cannot be taken anywhere else.
What is the syllabus for the TPO? How can I prepare for it?
The subject knowledge section will cover typical topics of the chosen subject and grade levels (e.g. if you choose “Middle school maths”, typical topics covered in maths for standard VI-VIII will be included). This is independent of board and largely aligned with themes in the National Curricular Framework. It will be mainly knowledge and conceptual understanding of the subject, but will also cover pedagogical content knowledge (i.e. how to teach the topic) to some extent.
The logical ability and communication section will contain questions on common aspects such as pattern recognition, syllogisms, etc. The questions will not require any knowledge of current affairs or specific topics; all data required will be part of the question.
The classroom practice and professional competencies section will cover aspects such as lesson planning, assessment, child development and so on, and will have several situation response questions, rather than only theory.
Once you register, you will be able to download a short sample paper, which will provide you further guidance.
What is the scoring pattern for the TPO? Is there any negative marking?
TPO2015 will have approximately 64 questions (all 3 sections included) totaling to 100 marks. There are easy, moderate and difficult questions, with different marks for each. There is no negative marking.
Will I be given the centre of my choice?
You shall be given a centre in the city selected by you during the registration process (out of the 7 cities for TPO2015). However, exact centre location may be different from the preferences indicated by you, based on centre availability.
Will I be given the time slot of my choice?
There shall be 3 time slots for the tests: 9:30am-11:45am, 12:30pm-2:45pm and 3:30pm-5:45pm. Candidates will be requested for their time slot preferences (first, second and third preference) during registration and attempts will be made to accommodate preferences, though final allocation will be based on availability and overall logistics.
The subject I teach is not included in the test tracks. Can I choose any other subject for the TPO?
Yes, you can choose any test track that is most suited, from the subject-grade combination tracks available. It is your choice and should ideally be a subject with some long term interest and in which you may also like to be CENTA Certified in the future.
Can I take the test in a subject different from what I register for?
No, the test needs to be taken in the subject or test track for which you registered.
What is the payment for the TPO?
TPO2015 has a nominal registration fee of Rs. 350 (taxes included). This is a non-refundable fee.
How should the payment for the TPO be made?
There are 3 options to make the payment: (1) You can pay online; that is the simplest option and your registration will be confirmed immediately; (2) You can send a DD/ Bank Cheque; (3) In case your school is willing to collect cash from interested teachers and send us a total DD / Bank Cheque with the list of participants (some schools are doing this and you should check with your own school), that is also an option. In the case of options 2 and 3, your registration will be confirmed as soon as we receive the DD / Bank Cheque. Please note that cash cannot be sent to us directly.
Some teachers from my school are paying through the school. Can I still pay online?
Yes, this is each teacher’s individual choice. If your school is offering the facility of collecting cash and sending us a total DD / Bank Cheque, you can avail of the facility if you want, or you can still pay online or send an individual DD / Bank Cheque.
Will my TPO score be shared with the school where I teach?
No, individual scores and ranks shall not be shared with the school, except for the top 500 candidates, whose ranks shall be announced and displayed on CENTA and TPO websites. The scores and ranks for all other candidates shall be shared only with them through confidential personalized reports, which shall be uploaded on the TPO website and can be accessed only though the candidate’s login and password. The user name and password of this shall be the same as created during the registration process.
What is the link between CENTA certification and participating in the TPO?
Scores attained in the TPO will act as the first step to CENTA certification. Teachers who are not able to write the TPO will be able to write an objective test for CENTA certification later, but will not be eligible for the prizes and recognition association with the CENTA TPO2015.
Which level of CENTA certificate -L1/L2/L3 shall I be eligible for based on the TPO?
TPO shall not determine the level of certification for which you are eligible.
L1 is typically for “new teachers” or those with less than 3 years work experience (including fresh teacher candidates); L2 is typically for “experienced teachers” with approximately 3 to 10 years work experience and L3 is typically for “senior teachers” with greater than 10 years work experience. These are only broad guidelines. Teachers with less experience can apply for a higher level if they want (and vice versa). However, they need to have the required evidence and examples to be able to clear the certificate for a particular level. This shall be opted for when you are applying for CENTA Certification, post TPO.
If I don’t get a good score in TPO, can I take the objective test again for a CENTA Certificate?
Yes, you can. However there shall be a time gap of at least 12 months, before you can take the objective test again..
Can I opt for CENTA Certificate in a track which is different from the test track I chose in the TPO?
Yes, you can. However in this case, you would have to take the relevant objective test and TPO scores shall not be considered as relevant.
