Govt takes steps to raise Eng of primary students
By Yogesh Avasthi
Posted On Sunday, November 22, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=2009112220091122022730390bec9a102)
The state government is actively promoting English language learning in Gujarati-medium schools. Making them English-ready by the time they reach college is the agenda. The government is making sure the initiative opens up job prospects for the students of the state. Gujarat has often been criticised by some of the top BPOs of the country in the past for churning out graduates demonstrating poor standard of English in their job tests.
While the supplementary reading books for the secondary section are already available, the Gujarat State School Textbook Board will now be introducing the same for Class V to VII and the higher secondary sections.
Supplementary reading books for the primary section, to be introduced in 2011, will have poems and picture-stories to interest the students, to make English learning an enjoyable experience.
For students of Class XI and XII, the books will be made available next year. The content will include excerpts from famous literary works, short stories, poems, and chapters dedicated to grammar, phonetics and vocabulary. The initiative aims, essentially, at promoting the higher-order language skills as well as the skills of thinking.
For a large number of higher secondary section students, this will be a preparation for the university-level studies, where a fairly high degree of proficiency in English is required. Since only some disciplines are taught in Gujarati at the university-level, vernacular medium students find themselves entering the college in disadvantaged position.
For class VII, IX and X, the books named Butterfly, Blackbuck and Dolphin respectively, focus greatly on basics of grammar and pronunciation. It is designed to help students build their vocabulary and improve their conversational skills.
The government is pretty serious in making its young population proficient in English. Its initiative — the
Society for Creation of Opportunity through Proficiency of English (SCOPE) — seeks to develop the English language skills of the youth in the state so that the they can find better jobs. Besides this, the state government has promised 217 digital English Language Laboratories in Gujarat to improve student’s verbal communication skills. The main thrust of these labs is functional English rather than literary English, hence the major gap between English proficiency and employability is proposed to be bridged.
Posted On Sunday, November 22, 2009 (Ahmedabad Mirror : http://www.ahmedabadmirror.com/index.aspx?Page=article§name=News%20-%20City§id=3&contentid=2009112220091122022730390bec9a102)
The state government is actively promoting English language learning in Gujarati-medium schools. Making them English-ready by the time they reach college is the agenda. The government is making sure the initiative opens up job prospects for the students of the state. Gujarat has often been criticised by some of the top BPOs of the country in the past for churning out graduates demonstrating poor standard of English in their job tests.
While the supplementary reading books for the secondary section are already available, the Gujarat State School Textbook Board will now be introducing the same for Class V to VII and the higher secondary sections.
Supplementary reading books for the primary section, to be introduced in 2011, will have poems and picture-stories to interest the students, to make English learning an enjoyable experience.
For students of Class XI and XII, the books will be made available next year. The content will include excerpts from famous literary works, short stories, poems, and chapters dedicated to grammar, phonetics and vocabulary. The initiative aims, essentially, at promoting the higher-order language skills as well as the skills of thinking.
For a large number of higher secondary section students, this will be a preparation for the university-level studies, where a fairly high degree of proficiency in English is required. Since only some disciplines are taught in Gujarati at the university-level, vernacular medium students find themselves entering the college in disadvantaged position.
For class VII, IX and X, the books named Butterfly, Blackbuck and Dolphin respectively, focus greatly on basics of grammar and pronunciation. It is designed to help students build their vocabulary and improve their conversational skills.
The government is pretty serious in making its young population proficient in English. Its initiative — the
Society for Creation of Opportunity through Proficiency of English (SCOPE) — seeks to develop the English language skills of the youth in the state so that the they can find better jobs. Besides this, the state government has promised 217 digital English Language Laboratories in Gujarat to improve student’s verbal communication skills. The main thrust of these labs is functional English rather than literary English, hence the major gap between English proficiency and employability is proposed to be bridged.
