A section of students, parents and lecturers in Prakasam district consider the instruction of compulsory English medium in all degree colleges in the state to be a ‘pioneer’ which will improve employability of students in the country and abroad.
Currently, 60-odd private colleges provide English-medium education to over 30,000 students in the district and ensure on-campus placements after honing their communication skills, unlike those not available to their counterparts in government colleges.
Government college lecturer N. Appreciating the decision, Ravikumar said, “Proficiency in the global language is essential to go for higher education or get suitable placements in jobs in both government and private sectors.” Bilingual textbooks have been made available and bridge courses have been introduced for the benefit of students pursuing education in their mother tongue up to the junior college level.
The state government’s collaboration with the University of Cambridge will go a long way in ensuring a fair deal for students in eight government degree colleges in the district, where majority of the students are from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and economically weaker sections. Educationist, Harsh Pritam Dev feels that classes pursue education. The transition from Telugu to English medium at the undergraduate level will be relatively easy. Sai Sandeep, a degree college student, says it will be more difficult at the postgraduate level.
‘Make it optional’
Another section feels that abruptly switching from Telugu to English medium will not be an easy matter for over 6,000 students in government colleges. The mediocre students will not be able to face the sudden change as they are studying through Telugu medium up to Senior Intermediate level. An educationist A. Prasad argues that students from rural areas will be most affected as well as slow learners who will need more time to get used to the new environment. They feel that it is better to leave the choice to the students themselves.
Questions are being raised about the staff’s ability to teach students in a foreign language. Some people believe that a change has to be made from the school level before the introduction of English medium at the graduation level.
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