Courtesy:www.indianexpress.com

                  Pune Zilla Parishad comes up with programme to help students speak better  In an attempt to enable students in rural areas speak English fluently, the Pune Zilla Parishad and the Centre for Learning Resources (CLR) have come together with radio instruction programmes for classrooms. Starting July 5, the All India Radio will broadcast “We learn English”, a programme to help students improve their communication skills during school hours. The radio instructional programme comprising 90 lessons will be targeted at three lakh students from 3,000 schools.

                  Dr Sanjeev Kapoor, CEO of Pune Zilla Parishad said, “The main aim is to encourage students to speak well.” “Despite several years of compulsory learning, very few students are really able to speak or read English sentences,” he added. The Zilla Parishad found willing partners in the CLR, an NGO that works towards empowering socially and economically disadvantaged students studying in regional medium elementary schools with a basic proficiency in English.

                   When contacted, Zakiya Kurrien, director of CLR, said the interactive and instructional radio course had been scripted and designed by the centre. “We have developed the curriculum after intensive research,” said Kurrien. At present, the trainers are updating the Zilla Parishad officials with the course material for them to train teachers in rural areas.

                  According to S H Chavan, extension officer, Zilla Parishad, the All India Radio will broadcast around 84 lessons designed for Class IV children from 11 am to11.15 am. The segment will be repeated from 7.45 pm to 8 pm.

                  The programme will be broadcast on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. There are more than three lakh students studying in 3,613 schools in the Pune district.

                “While the programme will have a general audience, the specific target is Standard IV children in the schools,” said Neelkanth Kothekar, programme executive with AIR. Kothekar was excited about the novel manner in which the curriculum has been designed. He said that this programme is aimed at honing the teachers’ skills in schools.

                 Kumar also said the radio was widely available in various areas of the district and can be used as a reliable distance education technology. “This will not only allow students to hear English being spoken but also provide an opportunity to speak English during the lesson itself,” said instructors at the CLR.