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Maharashtra state education department proactively working to improve primary school english
The state’s school education secretary Nand Kumar in a letter wants his subordinates to “improve” the level of English being taught. The letter exhorts all district education officers (DEO) to compile a list of teachers who are adept in English.
The Maharashtra state education department proactively started taking stock of the quality of English taught at primary school level. While not openly criticizing it, state's school education secretary Nand Kumar in a letter wants his subordinates to "improve" the level of English being taught. Kumar's intentions were conveyed in an internal letter by director of Rajya Angalbhasha Adhyapan Sanstha (Aurangabad). The letter exhorts all district education officers (DEO) to compile a list of teachers who are adept in English.
The plan is to bring these teachers together under one roof in Pune by the last week of April to discuss and know their suggestions on ways to improve English among primary school students. These inputs coupled with the state's own planning, a detailed roadmap will be prepared. Education officers have been given a weeks time to prepare the list and share with the State Council for Research, Education and Training (SCERT) in Pune.
While the letter is silent on the topic, yet according to insiders this is the final phase of a long term plan put into action a couple of years ago. In 2011 British Council (BC) had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Maharashtra government to train 4 lakh teachers in English. Independently, BC has also tied up with English Language Teachers Association of India (ELTAI) and consequently launched its first ever English Road Show for tier-II cities at Nagpur, in September 2011. Under the affiliation, the 2 organizations conducted 1 -day workshops for English teachers to help them improve teaching skills.
