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AP mulls over English medium in government schools
Faced with dwindling student enrollment, the AP government is preparing ground for introducing English medium from Class 1 to Class 9 in all the government schools. A pilot project, experimenting with the proposal in some schools, will be executed from the next academic year.
Vijayawada: Faced with dwindling student enrollment, the AP government is preparing ground for introducing English medium from Class 1 to Class 9 in all the government schools. A pilot project, experimenting with the proposal in some schools, will be executed from the next academic year.
Joint Director of School Education M Venkatakrishna Reddy told The Hans India that the department has submitted proposals in this regard to the government for approval. “We have initiated an exercise to identify schools for inclusion in the pilot project,” he added.
The government introduced English medium in municipal schools from eighth to 10th standard as of now.
The government intends to tread with caution while introducing English medium by replacing the instruction in the mother tongue by taking students, parents and the other stakeholders on board. Official sources said the medium of instruction will be changed to English in schools where the stakeholders welcomed the move.
The school education department will approach gram sabhas, parents and the other sections seeking their consent before going ahead with its decision.
The government seemingly thinks of introducing English medium as a remedy for falling student enrollments in schools in the wake of increasing public craze for convents with an instruction in English medium. The situation is so alarming that there are some schools with more number of teachers than students.
A number of schools were either closed or merged with neighbouring schools due to dwindling student strength.
According to official data, around 1100 schools were merged with nearest schools in the state last year as a result of poor student intake.
Parents are showing interest to send their children to the English Medium schools hoping to help their wards receive quality education. There are 27000 government schools in the state which will be subjected to change of instruction in favour of English medium if the proposal becomes a reality.
Former teacher MLC KS Lakshmana Rao said the proposal should be optional, allowing the instruction in the both media to go hand in hand in government schools. However, SFI state secretary Noor Mohammad questioned the government’s contention to improve standards by way of introducing English medium and thereby enhancing job prospects for students.
Educational standards have hardly anything to do with the medium of instruction, so also the job prospects, Noor said. In a bid to drive his point home, he pointed out that there are several people remained jobless after having sound qualifications with the instruction as English medium. Meanwhile, Telangana government has already introduced English medium in model schools.
By VL Syam Sundar
