Handholding students to improve English skills

Nitish Sharma

The Haryana Education Department has chalked out a plan to improve the knowledge of English language of students of government schools. The students will be divided into five groups, according to the level of their skills and understanding of the language, and then focus on developing these.  Around  800 schools in Ambala district will be covered.

The students will be divided into five groups — L1 to L5. Those who can only identify the letters of the alphabet will be kept in the L1 group, those who can form two to three words will be in the L2 group, while those who can identify complex words and form small sentences will be categorised in the L3 group. Similarly, students who can write and read a paragraph will be in the L4 group, while those who are able to write, read and reproduce passages will be categorised in the L5 group.

It will be ensured that students never come to know that they have been grouped to avoid any negative impact on their minds. Only teachers and officials of the Education Department will know about the students in different groups so that required attention is paid to them.

According to the policy, as students of government schools can’t be detained till Class VIII even those who don’t clear their exams are promoted to higher classes.  Hence, students of Class III to VIII will be covered under the programme in the first phase, while the progress of students in English in Class IV, VI and VIII will be monitored through an exam to be conducted in August under per the Saksham Plus campaign. The syllabus for the exam will be of Class III, V, and VII for the students of Class IV, VI and VIII, respectively. 

Sudhir Kalra, Block Education Officer, Ambala City, says, “It has usually been seen that children of government schools struggle in  English language. We are trying to ensure that students are able to overcome the hesitation of using the language. Teachers are already being trained and apprised of various ways they can adopt to familiarise students about the language. A team of the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET), Mohra, and block resource persons have trained teachers”. 

Kalra says, “The students of Class III to VIII will be covered in the first phase and gradually the progamme will be extended to other classes as well. If students of up to Class VIII get good marks in English subject, they will automatically achieve good marks in their board exams of Class X and XII”.

“The department aims to make students proficient in English, as students will take various exams, including entrance tests, in future for which they will require a good knowledge of the subject. It will boost their confidence and also arouse their interest in the language. If students learn the language right at the beginning, it will remove their apprehension about it and will help them in their studies,” he adds.

Grouping to be kept secret

• It will be ensured that students never come to know that they have been grouped to avoid any negative impact on their minds. 
• Students of Class III to VIII will be covered under the programme in the first phase.

To help students overcome hesitation

It has usually been seen that children of government schools struggle in English language. We are trying to ensure that students are able to overcome the hesitation of using the language. Teachers are already being trained and apprised of various ways they can adopt to familiarise students about the language. A team of the District Institute of Education and Training, Mohra, and block resource persons have trained teachers. —Sudhir Kalra, Block Education Officer, Ambala City