English taught in Hindi, Telugu in government schools

Hyderabad: Bilingual textbooks introduced in government schools to promote English-medium teaching from the current academic year are being ignored, with even English being taught in Hindi or Telugu in government schools, sources said.

Teachers claim that the practice is necessitated because most of the students are either Telugu speakers or those who understand only Hindi, and have come from Bihar, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and other western states.

Many teachers also said that they do not prefer teaching in English as they are either not confident in their language skills or not comfortable speaking the language. They said that a few training sessions organised by the government are not sufficient to make them proficient in speaking English and also teaching students the same.

“There are few resources provided by the government to schools. Teachers are also not very attentive to students as the there is no children-focused learning but performance-based learning in government schools,” said S. Sundar, a government school teacher in Hyderabad.

Another primary school teacher blamed the indifferent attitude of students and their lack of interest in learning English.

“Local students have their mind set that they will be taught in Telugu. So, they do not bother learning English or Hind. However, they are also struggling in learning the Telugu language,” said Sheik Khaja, a government school teacher.

A headmaster of a city-based government school, requesting anonymity, said that days before an inspection, teachers assign students projects, which mostly comprise making charts in English. However, many students are unable to do so and teachers make it themselves.

A third primary school teacher said that outstation students are performing better due to regular attendance, compared to locals.

“They are Hindi speakers but know the Telugu language better as they do not miss school. Their parents are daily wage workers, who drop them at schools at 9 am sharp. Now, they know Hindi and Telugu. If they decide to learn English, they can do so with the help of bilingual textbooks, which is hardly the case with local students. Their parents do not bother about their education and it is okay for them to miss school,” the teacher said.