Government move evokes mixed response : Rashtra News
#Government #move #evokes #mixed #response
Change affects us all and each of us deal with change differently. The dynamic changes being brought in the education sector by the government have evoked mixed responses of hope and disquiet.
The government representatives and officials working overtime to implement these changes are hopeful that it will help students gain confidence and an edge, needed to stand out in today’s globalised job market. The mandatory implementation of English as the medium of instruction in all degree colleges across the State from the current academic year (2020-21) is one such decision and all government, private, aided and unaided degree colleges in the State have been asked to implement it.
The move comes after close to two years of a similar policy announced for schools running into legal trouble. The government is clear in its stand with an argument that almost 70% of the Telugu medium students opting for English medium in graduation courses on their own, reflects their preference. “English medium in degree colleges is already there, only thing is we have made it mandatory now. As the world is increasingly globalised, students should be taught in the language used universally so that they can grab more opportunities,” says Education Minister A. Suresh.
Even in primary schools, he says, 97% of parents want their children to embrace English as the medium of instruction. “We are, however, providing them access to both English and Telugu medium,” he informs, adding that it does not, in any way, means undermining the importance of the mother tongue. “Telugu is a compulsory subject in all educational institutions at all levels,” he points out.
Chaitra Devineni is nervous about the prospect of the ‘new normal’ English medium classroom. “Understanding a concept in a new language may take time. I have been a Telugu medium student so far and this sudden change makes me unsettled,” she says.
Bilingual textbooks
To address inhibitions of students like Chaitra, the Andhra Pradesh State Council of Higher Education (APSCHE) is gearing up to roll out innovative measures to help students make the switch with minimum hassles. The exercise started a couple of months back when the Council asked degree colleges in the State to convert their Telugu medium programmes into English medium ones. “We parallelly started working on bilingual textbooks that will have the essence of what is written in English, presented in Telugu on alternate pages,” explains the Council Chairman K. Hemachandra Reddy. Besides, the Council is also producing podcasts, audio-visual lectures and bilingual video lectures, put together by subject experts.
Based on the revised curriculum framework, the Council officials have identified major subjects and for each of these subjects, three writers from different colleges and an editor from a university, have been roped in to work on the material for first and second semesters. Books for the first semester are almost ready while for the second semester, the expert team will take up the writing role.
Subject experts among faculty members have been entrusted with the task of producing podcasts in both English and Telugu languages. It is mostly in English but wherever the topic is slightly complicated or difficult, Telugu is used to help students understand better. The APSCHE has also launched its Learning Management System (LMS) recently. “The idea is to integrate the new tools created for smooth transition of students from the Telugu to English medium, with LMS in a seamless manner,” says Mr. Hemachandra Reddy.
‘Difficult task’
Critics, including leaders of the opposition parties, argue that years of training and conceptual learning in Telugu will make the migration to a new language a difficult task. If the BJP sees it as the Jagan Mohan Reddy government’s attempt to wipe out Telugu culture, the TDP feels that such abrupt switch will put stress on students. “Students from rural backgrounds will face difficulty. Such students who have not had much exposure to the English language will find theory classes a bigger challenge. Communication and language skills should have preceded implementation of the decision, to make their life easy under the new system,” says A. Ajay Kumar, principal of Triveni College in Vijayawada. State general secretary of the Government College Teachers’ Association P. Venugopal feels that the move will benefit students but ‘it should have been brought in phases in a systematic way’. Leaders of the State chapter of the Student Federation of India (SFI) had staged State-wide protests against the government’s decision. “Like in schools, degree students should also be given a choice. A large number of students from rural areas who continue their education till degree level, will drop out of colleges,” says Someswara Rao, State vice-president of SFI. The federation’s Repalle division secretary K.V. Lakshmana Rao calls introduction of English medium a ‘good decision’ but is opposed to scrapping of Telugu medium. The APSCHE, meanwhile, is gearing up to meet its challenge – the readiness of teachers to migrate to English medium. “However, it may not be so serious because they are all well-qualified,” says Prof. Hemachandra, and adds: “Our next challenge would be to remove the inhibitions the students bring to the classroom.”
( News Source :Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Rashtra News staff and is published from a www.thehindu.com feed.)