English medium sections in class I will be introduced in 92 Government primary and elementary schools in the district this year with nearly 2,000 students enrolled already.
This is in addition to the 249 schools in which such sections were started last year, enrolling nearly 5,000 students.
Rural areasAs campaigning is still underway in rural areas to sign up more students, the final number of schools is likely to exceed 100, sources in the Directorate of Elementary Education, which grants permission for opening English sections, told The Hindu here on Wednesday.
Changing needsEnglish medium sections were introduced in Government schools last year to meet the changing needs of industry and institutions of higher education, besides preventing migration of students to private schools.
Coimbatore district had a total of 706 Government primary and 229 middle schools. The schools were given permission to start English medium sections if they could enrol 20 students per class. Headmasters and teachers conducted extensive campaign in their locality to highlight the advantages of an education in English medium, sources said.
TrainingLike last year, the Sarva Siksha Abhiyan will train teachers in these schools to take classes in English. All the reading materials would be provided by the State Government.
A senior official said that the enthusiasm of parents for English medium sections could be gauged from the fact that every single Government school that started English sections in class I last year were proceeding to start class II this year.
The number of dropouts was negligible.
Most students of Government schools came from socially and economically weaker families which cannot afford expensive private schools.
HelpStarting English medium sections in Government schools would help such families greatly.
The existing Tamil medium sections would be retained in all these schools. English medium sections would not be started at the cost of Tamil medium ones, the official added.
