Spoken English course in select government schools in Puttur soon

To attract children to government schools, a pilot programme to teach spoken English course in selected government higher primary schools in Puttur taluk will be initiated from July.

In spite of successive governments introducing various benefits to children studying in government schools including mid-day meal, ksheera bhagya yojane, scholarships, the enrolment ratio, in government schools have remained poor. The reason, that parents wish their child to speak fluently in English and wish to send their children to private English medium schools.

To ensure that government schools are no inferior to private schools where English is taught from beginning, a new initiative has been taken up in selected 20 schools in the taluk, Puttur BEO Shashidar said.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, he said the initiative will be taken up with the help of donors and alumni members.  Modules are being designed in a way that will enable children to learn English with ease. We have approached donors and old students association members. The teacher to teach spoken English will be recruited from locally. He/she will be paid honorarium of around Rs 3,000. The old students of the schools have been asked to deposit the money to SDMC account, to pay to the teacher. In fact, the teacher will also be imparted training.”  “The taluk has 184 government primary schools. Looking at the success of the programme in selected schools, the initiative will be extended to other schools in the future. The teacher will teach spoken English to the students from first to fourth standard daily. By the end of the academic year, students would be able to speak fluently in English. The programme is not being taken up from the government aid,” the BEO said.

With Mission 95 Plus in the taluk, SSLC results have been improved by 10 per cent during the year. On the other hand, with the help of donors, LKG section has been started at Mukve Government Higher Primary School in Puttur during the year.  A workshop will be conducted on how to teach spoken English to the students under the guidance of Puttur Vivekananda College Principal Madhav Bhat. Good command over English opens up opportunities for the students, who can not afford to pay for such training. “We are expecting change in the students by the next academic year,” he added.

The BEO said a student career development programme will be organised in all government and aided schools in the taluk from July. Children of beedi workers, labourers, poor farmers  pursue their education at government schools. Unaware of opportunities available, they end up in admitting themselves to traditional courses after the school education. Awareness on courses available for students after completing tenth standard will be created. The programme will be held for every 15 days in all the four hoblis in the taluk, he added.