NIZAMABAD: A government school teacher has literally taken the poetic route in his bid to help his students improve their English language skills. Such has been the response that the poems written by his students have been compiled and published as a book titled Blooming Birds.
The achievement is not only inspiring children in other schools, but has also piqued their interest in the language. P Chandrasekhar, who teaches English to students of class VI to Intermediate at the Telangana State Model School and Junior College at Nandipet, says it all began when he decided that his students needed to not only learn basic grammar and composition, but excel in their linguistic skills so that they can compete with those of private schools.
He encouraged them to write short stories and poems, telling them that if they concentrated on literary activities, it would help them improve their vocabulary, communication and creative skills.
During the 2018-19 academic year, class IX students showed interest in writing poems in English; they wrote a number of poems in free verse. Soon, a number of these were published in national and international magazines. Seeing that they were very well received, 72 poems written by 24 students were selected and published in book form. Manthena Damodara Chary edited the book.
However, it did not hit the shelves due to Covid in 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years, but was recently released by MLC K Kavitha in Hyderabad and district Collector C Narayana Reddy in Nizamabad. A Delhi-based publisher published it.
Interestingly, while some of the students whose poems were selected for the book have been selected for IIIT, others are now studying Intermediate and all are continuing their literary activity. Most of them belong to rural areas.
Chandrasekhar has authored a book titled General Mains: English Language and Literature which is published by Telugu Academy. He has also written a book of poems titled Exquisite Ecstasy. His aim is to remove the hesitancy among students about the language.
He is proud of his students who have participated in several poetic fests in Hyderabad. “Several State-level organisations have conducted poetry competitions in Nizamabad and our students won first and second prizes,” he said.