For the first time, English introduced from Class I in Gujarat’s government schools
The Hindu
Lately, debates on the state of the education sector in the State and particularly the condition of State-run schools has been at the centre of the BJP and Aam Aadmi Party’s political slugfest in Gujarat
In more than 32,000 government-run primary schools in Gujarat, English subject has been introduced from Class I for the first time in a move to make the students conversant with the language and to meet the demands of parents who want their kids to learn English language from the beginning stages.
“From this academic year, we have made the beginning of teaching English as a subject from Standard 1 in all government-run schools,” said Gujarat’s Education Secretary Vinod Rao.
He added that in the start, the students of Class I-II will be taught basics of the language and from Class III onwards, they will be taught writing also.
From Standard VI, students will be introduced to bilingual textbooks.
“It is a good move that at least some basic skills of English language will be taught to the students from the very first day of their schooling,” said Ramesh Thakor, a parent from Ganeshpura village of Mehsana district.
His son studies in class III in their village school.
The State education department is providing training to teachers as well as providing teacher’s handbooks in government primary schools on how to tackle the new subject.
“Writing, in general, is a very solitary process,” says Yauvanika Chopra, Associate Director at The New India Foundation (NIF), which, earlier this year, announced the 12th edition of its NIF Book Fellowships for research and scholarship about Indian history after Independence. While authors, in general, are built for it, it can still get very lonely, says Chopra, pointing out that the fellowship’s community support is as valuable as the monetary benefits it offers. “There is a solid community of NIF fellows, trustees, language experts, jury members, all of whom are incredibly competent,” she says. “They really help make authors feel supported from manuscript to publication, so you never feel like you’re struggling through isolation.”
Several principals of government and private schools in Delhi on Tuesday said the Directorate of Education (DoE) circular from a day earlier, directing schools to conduct classes in ‘hybrid’ mode, had caused confusion regarding day-to-day operations as they did not know how many students would return to school from Wednesday and how would teachers instruct in two modes — online and in person — at once. The DoE circular on Monday had also stated that the option to “exercise online mode of education, wherever available, shall vest with the students and their guardians”. Several schoolteachers also expressed confusion regarding the DoE order. A government schoolteacher said he was unsure of how to cope with the resumption of physical classes, given that the order directing government offices to ensure that 50% of the employees work from home is still in place. On Monday, the Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) had, on the orders of the Supreme Court, directed schools in Delhi-NCR to shift classes to the hybrid mode, following which the DoE had issued the circular. The court had urged the Centre’s pollution watchdog to consider restarting physical classes due to many students missing out on the mid-day meals and lacking the necessary means to attend classes online. The CAQM had, on November 20, asked schools in Delhi-NCR to shift to the online mode of teaching.