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English programme for teachers crashes & burns
Karachi, Feb 06, 2008: Shortage of teachers having complete command over English
language means that the special crash programme planned by the Sindh education
department to train senior teachers at 'Model English Medium Colleges' is yet to
be implemented.
Last week, the caretaker education minister, Shujaat Ali
Beg, declared that 18 government colleges in Karachi will be converted into
'Model English Medium Colleges'. The crash programme to train senior teachers
and college principals was suppose to start from January 28 at the DJ Science
College, and classes were scheduled to be conducted after college hours (from
2.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m.). There is no sign of the course yet, however, ostensibly
because of the lack of qualified English teachers to conduct these
classes.
DJ Science College Principal, Hakim Beg Chugtai said that he had
been informed about the notification for English language courses on January 29.
Instructions issued by the Director General (DG) said that the medium of
instruction and conversation at the Model English Medium Colleges shall be
English, except for the subjects of Urdu or Sindhi. Moreover, a board bearing
the words 'Model English Medium College' shall be displayed at the main entrance
of these colleges. The institutions were also told that all students should be
informed at the time of admission that their medium of writing and reading in
the college shall be English. Principals of these colleges were directed to
write about the English speaking and writing ability of their teaching staff in
the Performance and Evaluation Reports (PER).
Meanwhile, the caretaker
Sindh education minister said that the crash courses to teach English
to senior teachers had already started. In the same vein, DG College, Rafique
Siddiqui was surprised to hear that the courses were yet to start. According to
him, the teacher assigned to conduct the classes was to be paid Rs500 per
day.
Will the plan be successful?
Karachi: Principals of various colleges maintained that lectures for all
subjects other than Urdu and Sindhi are already being delivered in English. It
is only to help students understand the text better that explanations are given
in their mother-tongue - Urdu. This, they believed, is a correct approach
because it would discourage rote-learning.
Introducing English as the
medium of instruction in colleges would not work, they said, adding that the
government should introduce this at the, grassroots - i.e. the nursery classes.
Senior officials at the education department said that the step taken by the
caretaker education minister was "cosmetic." Colleges were never specifically
Urdu or English medium, they maintained, adding that students are free to use
either language for exams.
Moreover, they said that the programme would
never be successful because "gradual change" is required. "No one can learn a
language overnight," they said. Also, the education department is seriously
short of teachers who have complete command of both written and spoken English,
officials said. Most senior teachers were of the view that in order to make the
project successful, students must be stopped from using Urdu in examinations,
and the use of English language for all subjects (except Urdu and Sindhi) should
be mandatory.
This, however, can not be implemented immediately primarily
because a vast number of students at government colleges come from schools where
English is not taught very seriously. In state-run schools in Peshawar, for
instance, English has not been totally introduced in classes or even for exams.
Students coming from such schools to colleges in Karachi barely understand Urdu,
let alone English, a college principal said.
British Council denies education minister's claim
Karachi: While British Council (BC) ELT advisor, Daphne Pawelec, recently
met the caretaker education minister, Sindh, Shujaat Ali Beg to discuss issues
faced by teachers in the province especially in teaching in English, the BC has,
however, "at no time made a commitment to provide courses or training to these
teachers," BC Pakistan Director Sue Beumont said.
Meanwhile, Beg
maintained that the BC was contacted for providing English language training to
teachers at government colleges, and the crash programme for teaching English to
these teachers is "in full swing." Beg was also a participant in an English
language seminar organised recently in Islamabad by the BC, Beumont said, adding
that the seminar brought together key stakeholders from the private and public
sector to investigate the delivery, standard and reach of English teaching,
teacher training and learning across Pakistan. It also identified problems, and
participants looked for ways of working together to solve these problems. The
need to have further similar discussions was also identified at the seminar,
Beumont concluded. The News
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