Coming soon: 5000 govt-run English medium schools in UP

LUCKNOW : Uttar Pradesh will soon have nearly 5000 state government-run English medium primary schools, minister of state for basic education Anupama Jaiswal said on Saturday.

These schools are likely to become functional from the next academic session. Five or more such schools will be set up in every block of the state. There are over 820 blocks in the state.

The minister said the decision was taken as there was a huge demand for English medium schools.

“Parents are queuing up for English medium schools. So, we thought why not have governmentrun English medium schools to cater to the demand,” she said at a press conference while listing her department’s achievements in the last six months.

Instead of establishing new schools, the government will convert the existing primary schools into English medium institutions after giving thorough training to teachers and providing English books, said Sarvendra Vikram Bahadur Singh, director, basic education. He was speaking at the same press conference as the minister.

The minister said efforts will be made to ensure that teachers teach proper English to students and help them pronounce words correctly.

Another official, who refused to be named, told HT: “Two years ago, the Samajwadi Party government had set up two such schools in every district of the state. And the response was overwhelming. The attendance of students went up in a big way. This led the (present) state government to plan more such schools in the state.”

Before Akhilesh Yadav took the chief minister’s reins in 2012, the Samajwadi Party was seemed to be against English as a medium of instruction. In fact, the party drew flak for opposing computers and English in its Lok Sabha poll manifesto in 2009.

After it was pointed out that even his son had studied at a convent school, the then SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had said: “I am not against English but its use should not be a compulsion.”