Switch to English medium: Teachers crib while parents welcome govt decision

Hyderabad: After the Telangana cabinet decided to introduce English medium in all government schools from the next academic year, teachers have welcomed the move but ask questions, like how the number of teachers needed to implement the same will be in place.

Many teachers who currently take classes in Telugu would require training to be able to communicate in English, teachers say.

Telangana state united teachers' federation (TSUTF) general secretary Chava Ravi suggested that both English and Telugu mediums be offered in parallel, so that parents could choose one. “As for the teachers, it would be difficult to switch to English. Proper training is necessary to improve their communication skills,” he said.

He said such a complete switch as has happened in AP was disallowed by the high court there, after which the government approached the Supreme Court. The medium of instruction in most B.Ed colleges is Telugu.

Thanda Sadanandam, a maths teacher at ZPHS Amanagal, Mahabubabad district, said parents would welcome the government decision. Many government schools had been seeking permission to introduce English medium. About 60 such permits were given this past month. This would help increase the strength in government schools, he said.

Bhoomanna Yadav, headmaster of a school at Thanur mandal in Nirmal district, said teachers would require adequate training for this switch-over from Telugu to English. However, as all teachers had studied English until Inter, they would be able to switch to English, after all, he said.

General secretary of Telangana progressive teachers federation (TPTF) Srinivasulu urged the government to first fill the vacancies for about 20,000 teachers in schools, a further 10,000 teachers in residential schools and recruit more teachers who could teach in English.