BIJNOR: After success of ‘Aao Angrezi Sikhein’ (let us learn English) programme broadcast by All India Radio (AIR) to select government schools, education department in UP has decided to extend it to all primary and Kasturba Gandhi Schools in the state to enable children to pick up the language by listening to it.Till now, the facility was available to only select schools for Class VI students. Now, students from Class I to VIII will be able to listen to English speaking lessons on radio across the state.Experts have been roped in to teach the language over AIR across the state. A two-day training will be conducted for district coordinators, training, and coordinators, female students, in Allahabad for the purpose. Four batches have been formed for the training programme, which will be held from September 12 to September 19, said Salim Beg, district coordinator, Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan.He said, “The radio programme will help schoolchildren to learn the basics of English language. The prescribed episodes will be broadcast by AIR stations across UP.”The aim is to make students pick up the language by listening to the spoken words, Experts will deliver a lecture on how to speak and write English. After listening to an episode, they will revise it repeatedly with the help of their teachers who will note down the sentences during the programme.Beg said,“First, the coordinators will be trained and they in turn will impart training to teachers and other respective staff. The schedule is awaited for broadcasting the English episodes.“The programme was started last year for students of Class VI. It proved a boon for children. After its success, government as decided to launch English education programme for all students of Class I and VIII,” he added.The state government will also launch another radio programme, Jan Pahal, under which school management committees comprising parents will be made aware about their responsibilities.According to education department sources in Bijnor , government has been spending around Rs 300 crore in the district alone to impart free education to children, who are also provided free textbooks, midday meal and uniforms along with shoes and socks. However, most students cannot read and write properly. None can speak in English like their counterparts in public schools.Moreover, the government’s decision to upgrade its schools into English medium institutions has also failed. In Bijnor district , the education department had shortlisted 60 schools for upgrading on a par with public schools. Out of these, 50 primary schools were upgraded from the new academic session which commenced from April 1. However, four months on, the students enrolled in them are being compelled to read from old Hindi syllabus as the new curriculum books are yet to arrive.

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