The five-day training programme that began on Monday for teachers of primary schools to teach in English has received good response. Around 130 teachers from across the State (10 from each district) have been selected for training as district resource persons (DRPs) and all of them have participated in the training workshop.
"Apart from the 130 we have here, we received nearly 100 applications from teachers across the State who wanted to be part of the five-day workshop. However, we could not accommodate them as we formulated the teaching module keeping in mind logistic feasibility," said Martin LKG, a member of the content development team.
He also said that the 30 State resource persons (SRPs) who underwent similar training last week as part of a three-day workshop have proved to be extremely helpful in teaching the DRPs. The session on day one dealt with removing prejudices pertaining to the supposed death of the Telugu language due to introduction of English as medium of instructions in schools. "We were explained in detail how the enter module of English would work. We understood that teaching in English will enhance the students' abilities and will not endanger Telugu as a compulsory subject," said one of the teachers on condition of anonymity.
On the second day of training, teachers were asked to analyse their own weaknesses and learn from others.
"We realised that all the teachers know how to write in English as they had to pass the English test during their recruitment tests. However, they lack in confidence. Since they have never addressed a group of students or communicated in English, they lack the confidence to speak in that language," said Martin. The training team believe that at the end of the five-day training session, the teachers will be able to confidently speak in English.
