VIJAYAWADA: Even as the opposition parties are making a hue and cry over introduction of English medium in government schools in the State from Class I to VI, the Jagan Mohan Reddy government issued a fresh GO on Wednesday with some modifications to its earlier order for implementation of its decision from the next academic year. It asked the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) to prepare handbooks and material to train teachers in teaching English in government schools.
Govt issues G.O. on English medium, SCERT roped in for teacher training
Initially, the government wanted to introduce English medium from Class I to VIII from the academic year 2020-21 and for Classes IX and X from the academic year 2021-22. After that, the government decided to implement English medium from Class I to VI in phase 1 of its initiative.In its fresh GO, the government asked the Commissioner of School Education to convert all classes from I to VI in primary, upper primary and high schools under all managements into English medium from the academic year 2020-21 and gradually extend it to other classes with each subsequent year.
“However, the Commissioner of School Education shall take steps to implement Telugu/Urdu as compulsory subject depending on the current medium of instruction in the schools,’’ the GO stated.The government directed the School Education Department to deploy required number of teachers in the schools for the introduction of English medium.
Apart from preparing handbooks and material to train teachers to teach English as the authority for implementation of the government’s decision, the SCERT, in coordination with the School Education Department, should take measures for online assessment of current English proficiency levels of the government teachers, design appropriate training programmes for enhancing their English teaching skills, the GO stated.
The government also said in future teacher recruitment, qualified candidates with proficiency in English teaching should be considered.Teachers will be provided extensive training from January 2020. As many as 98,000 teachers are likely to be trained in the next six months to teach in English medium.
Revival of English Language Teaching Centres and District English Centres (DECs) and relocation of the the centres in the District Institutes for Education and Training (DIETs) have also been proposed as part of the initiative.The Director of Textbooks Press should ensure supply of English medium textbooks to the schools for class I to VI as per the requirement well before the commencement of the next academic year, the GO said.
The Opposition TDP has tooth and nail opposed the move to introduce English medium in government schools from Class I to VI at the ‘cost’ of mother tongue Telugu. Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan announced to take up the ‘Mana Nudi - Mana Nadi (Our language - Our River) programme to protect the mother tongue and rivers. “Our rich culture will be hit, if we fail to protect the mother tongue, which is vital for our future,’’ he said, adding that it is unfortunate that our rivers, the birthplace of our culture, are getting contaminated.