BENGALURU: Contrary to what was planned, Bangalore University may not be able to introduce a Bachelor of Education (BEd) course in foreign languages in the academic year 2015-16.
Owing to delays in finalising the syllabus for teaching German and French as the language of specialisation, the course may come to fruition only in 2016-17.
Jeevan Kumar, chairman and dean of the Faculty of Arts and Department of Foreign Languages, Bangalore University, said the study module is yet to be finalised by the Board of Studies.
Once the curriculum is ready, it will be vetted by the Arts Faculty at the university and subsequently, the final package will be approved by the Academic Council.
“Teaching a foreign language is not easy; we have a variety of factors to take into consideration. We have completed two meetings with (Higher) Education Department officials so far. Both German and French representatives are providing inputs as well. We will have our third meeting soon and then present the curriculum to the Board of Studies,” he said.
Demand for German Teachers
The decision to teach BEd in German was taken to meet the increasing demand of German language teachers in India. Right now, there are teachers who have learnt German through the Goethe Institut’s special language courses. However, a certified Indian degree will help in the long run, given the large number of German learners at present.
There are at least 60,000 to 70,000 German learners in Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) schools across the country and a substantial number in state-board schools as well, according to Andrea Schaefer, deputy director and head, Language Department, Goethe Institut.
At Goethe alone, the number of students has increased from 300 in 2009 to 3,000 in 2014. In addition to this, many private schools have also approached the institute for help as they want to introduce German in the curriculum.
“Every week, I meet professors and principals from various institutions who want to introduce German and they ask us to provide them with teachers. But we are not able to do so. That is why we are working with Bangalore University to develop the BEd course,” Schaefer said.
The university plans to introduce MA courses in German and Spanish from the coming academic year, according to Dr Jyothi
Venkatesh, coordinator of the Department of Foreign Languages.
The university at present offers certificate, diploma and advance diploma courses in seven languages and post-graduate courses in French and Japanese.
Apart from this, a 40-hour conversation class in French, German and Spanish will also be rolled out in May. Jyothi said, “We had taken approval for this over three years ago. This year, it will be implemented. This will be an intensive conversation class with eight hours of input every week for five weeks.”
While they have also taken approval to teach Asian languages, a decision in this regard will be taken only after the first conversation class is complete.