State mulls 100 English medium schools at affordable cost

Kolkata: The state government has plans to introduce 100 English medium schools which will offer quality education at a low cost. "We are planning to introduce 100 English medium schools in the state. We will also recruit separate teachers for the purpose of teaching in these schools," state Education minister Partha Chatterjee said at a felicitation programme of candidates who have performed very well in the Secondary and Higher Secondary examinations at Behala Sarat Sadan.

"Many students cannot study in private English medium schools because of financial constraints. Most of these schools charge a large amount as tuition fees which the students fail to afford. Our schools will offer quality education at a low cost," a senior official of the state Education department said.

It may be mentioned that the government has created as many as 152 sanctioned posts for teaching Science subjects in English medium at the Higher Secondary level and 30 of these posts have been filled up till date.

The state government has already started more than a dozen separate sections for English medium schools in the Higher Secondary level.

The state government which is mulling with the idea of English medium schools right from the primary level has already created two posts for English medium in each of the 39 government schools in the state and are in the process of recruitment of teachers.

"Bengali medium schools will remain as it is. However, we are also thinking of starting some English medium schools from primary to upper primary levels," an official said.

The Education department is inviting proposals in this regard from various teachers' bodies and institutions.

The Left Front government in 1982 had decided to do away with English at the primary level.

This had resulted in sharp decline of students in government schools as most of them opted for private English medium schools which taught the subject right from the pre-primary level.

Educationists have said time and again that engineering students from the state have not been getting lucrative jobs because of their poor command over English.

A few days back, Chatterjee had urged the private engineering colleges to have a six-week crash course in English for their students so that they have the confidence with which they can appear in their job interviews.