‘E/M in govt schools can eliminate social disparities’

Warangal: English medium instruction to children studying in government schools could help to address social disparities, opined noted educationist and former MLC Chukka Ramaiah.

This, he said with reference to the district administration and education department’s efforts to introduce English medium in government schools at primary level on pilot basis in Warangal district. In order to train the teachers on the objectives of the initiative, five-day training was started on Saturday.

The training programme was being conducted in association with English Language Teachers Association (ELTA) and Vandemataram Foundation at District Institute of Educational Training (DIET), Hanamkonda.

Addressing the teachers at the training, Ramaiah said imparting English medium education in rural schools would be a challenge and asked them to make dedicated efforts to meet the expectations.

‘The initiative could strengthen the government school system and fulfils the dream of parents in rural areas to provide English medium education to their children. It further could help the rural children pursue higher education,’ he added.

District Collector Vakati Karuna said large numbers of parents in rural areas have submitted petitions during Grama Jyothi programme seeking introduction of English medium in government schools.

In view of their requests it was planned to introduce English medium instruction in select schools from next academic year. With the assistance from ELTA and English and Foreign Languages University (ELFU), Hyderabad educational modules have been prepared, she informed.

District Education Officer (DEO) P Rajiv said the initiative could help to increase enrolment in government schools.

Course Coordinator at DIET M Somaiah, ELTA president B Komuraiah and general secretary T Venkateshwara Rao, Vandemataram Foundation Director T Ravinder Rao, Deputy Education Officer Sarangapani Iyyengar and others were present.