AP: SCERT Recommends English Medium In Schools

AMARAVATI: The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) which submitted a 58-page report to the Andhra Pradesh Government on the introduction of English medium in public schools in the state, emphasized the need for having English medium at the school level.

As per sources, the SCERT report, which was recently submitted included a comprehensive analysis and recommendations about having primary education in English Medium, which would enable the government to take an informed decision on the medium of instruction.

The Government through the Commissioner of School Education had recently collected written opinions of parents over which option of medium they would prefer for students studying in Class 1 to Class 6 for the next academic year. As per their opinion, around 96.17 per cent of the parents chose English medium as an option for study.

Based on this, the Government had issued a directive instructing SCERT to submit a report with recommendations to enable the introduction of English medium. The SCERT prepared a comprehensive report and submitted the same to the government.

SCERT report highlights:

After a thorough analysis, the following recommendations were mentioned in the report.

While emphasizing the importance of students being fluent in their mother tongue, it was recommended that teaching in English medium should be done from Class One onwards to attain complete proficiency in other subjects.

Education through English medium would encourage all-round knowledge, skills and standards would improve.

The principles set by the Constitution about education would increase in students and an all-round development in students would be possible.

To enhance physical and mental capabilities, teaching should be student-centric. Learning should also be carried out by undertaking various methods.

Students should be able to express their feelings or opinions freely without any stress, fear or anxiety.

Comprehensive evaluation of the knowledge acquired by students through these processes should be monitored regularly to assess how much their capabilities have increased.

For this purpose, the government should introduce English medium from Class 1 to 10 in a phased manner, it suggested.

In this regard, SCERT has designed and prepared textbooks in English medium from 1 to 6.

Urdu, Tamil, Kannada, and Oriya medium will continue to exist in schools, based on the students' option, while English medium classes can be pursued parallely.

In the wake of the government's directives to make Telugu subject compulsory for Classes 1 to 10, SCERT has already redesigned the subject textbooks based in Telugu, to strengthen the mother tongue.

It also suggested that with activities such as strengthening the teaching process and improving infrastructure in schools through government programs would yield effective results.

Providing workbooks, school kits, redesigned textbooks, and nutritious lunches for students will further aid these results.

Many of the training programs given to the teachers though the ICT platforms will be of much help.

Regular meetings with parents should be conducted and they should be apprised of the student's progress.

Also Read: CM YS Jagan Vindicated: 96% Parents In AP Want English Medium Education!