Considering the decreasing students’ enrollment in Government schools, the State Education Department has decided to start English medium classes in Class I from Tuesday.
As of now, English medium classes will begin in as many as 145 Government primary schools, said school education Director General and Additional Secretary Radhika Jha while talking to The Pioneer on Monday.
It should be mentioned here that the State Government has planned to run eight Government primary schools on public private partnership (PPP) mode in Dehradun district from next academic session. The education department selected those schools for operation on PPP mode where students' enrollment was not as per Government standards.
Recently, in a meeting with the education officers at education directorate, Uttarakhand Education Minister Mantri Prasad Naithani had expressed disappointment at decreasing number of students in the Government schools.
He opined that one of the reasons for decreasing students' enrollment in Government schools especially in cities is that large number English medium has been opened and most parents want their child to be enrolled in English medium school.
“In order to enroll more students in the Government schools, as a pilot project, I have decided to introduce English medium classes at Class I in some schools of the State,” he added.
Radhika Jha said that in all 145 Government primary schools, Class I students will be taught in English medium from Tuesday. “Before introducing English medium classes in these schools, teachers were selected and they were given training at District Institute of Education and Training,” she added.
State Council of Education Research and Training (SCERT) director RK Kunwar said that the education department had received more than 300 applications from the teachers stating they are capable of teaching the students in English medium in their schools but only 159 teachers were selected based on departmental examination.
later selected teachers were trained at DIET. Among 145 government schools, 10 each have been selected for English medium classes in Dehradun district, Almora, Chamoli, Pithoragarh, Bageshwar while 27 have been selected in Almora, 12 in Haridwar and 19 in Pauri. The chief education officers have been to ensure that selected schools start teaching their students in English medium from Tuesday.
Kunwar further said that class-I text books have already been distributed among the students. SCERT has drafted Class I syllabus for English medium classes. "For drafting this syllabus, we have consulted Government school teachers, education officers and private school teachers and headmasters ," he added.
He further said that in the next year, teachers who can teach Class II students in English medium will be selected and they will be given training at DIET and English medium classes for Class II will start from next year.