Students of the Zilla Parishad High School (ZPHS) at Bendapudi village in Kakinada district won lavish praise from Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy for their fluency in English.
The students of the school said that their English teacher, G. Prasad, had trained them well in speaking proper English, and thanked him for taking special classes for them.
The students, K. Venkanna Babu (Class IX), R. Tejaswini (Class VIII), K. Rishma (Class X), T. Anudeep (Class VII) and T. Meghna (Class X), who interacted with the Chief Minister a couple of days ago, said they wanted to become IAS officers and serve the public.
They thanked Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy for introducing several schemes for students and introducing reforms in the field of education. “Meeting the Chief Minister in his chambers and interacting with him was a memorable experience for me. We are glad that he introduced English medium of instruction at government schools,” said Rishma.
Meghana said that schemes like Amma Vodi and Nadu-Nedu had infused vigour into government schools and were of much help to students across the State.
Andhra Pradesh School Education Regulatory and Monitoring Commission (APSERMC) member C.A.V. Prasad said the Bendapudi ZPHS students highlighted the importance of government schools, and asked the Education Department to take steps to inculcate similar methods to teach English at all other government schools.
“I completed my schooling and college in Telugu medium and obtained my MA in English from Andhra University. To help students speak English fluently, I began a digital lab with a projector, speakers and a big screen,” the teacher told The Hindu.
“Many students are lacking confidence in spoken English, and are losing jobs. I want to train the students of government schools on par with corporate educational institutions and selected a few students from Bendapudi ZPHS. All the 483 students in the school speak English without any fear,” Mr. Prasad said.
My English teacher arranged debates with USA students, conducted online classes during COVID and trained us. He asked us to pick up five works from the dictionary supplied in the school under Jagananna Vidya Kanuka, and learn them, said Venkanna Babu.
“We practised as news readers, cricket commentators, participated in debates in American accent and Language Improvement Programme. Some students were selected for Spell Bee contest,” said Mr. Anudeep.
Education Minister Botsa Satyanarayana, Chief Secretary Sameer Sharma, Principal Secretary B. Raja Shekar, School Education Commissioner Suresh Kumar, State Project Director (SSA) Vetri Selvi and other officers.
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