After a dormant year, the Hello English programme, launched by the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) with much enthusiasm, is being revived in the State.
Hello English was rolled out in 2016 with the aim of making lower primary students confident in the use of English by equipping their teachers to communicate and teach in the language.
The programme, initially launched for lower primary students, has been extended to the upper primary classes and is being given a renewed thrust.
Says Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Project Director A.P. Kuttykrishnan, “The programme was teacher-oriented when it was rolled out. Now, after an academic exercise, the module has been slightly tweaked to make students confident in using English through a host of activities and only then move on to imparting the contents of the textbook to them.”
As part of preparation of academic master plans of schools, it was realised that the current English textbook did not provide enough opportunities for students to read, write, and speak well, though they could answer questions or write a few lines on a subject. In the 2017-18 academic year, to give that extra push to students’ English proficiency, a new module, was piloted at a school in Alappuzha, and then expanded to other districts. The success of this module was the catalyst for taking this new approach to Hello English to all schools.
A significant step in this was an eight-day training organised during the summer vacation for all English teachers in schools. Totally activity and game-based, it was intended as an ice-breaker, helping teachers understand how to remove students’ discomfort and apprehension of English and make English teaching enjoyable by employing songs, drama, and dance, says Arvind Kumar Pai, resource person. “Listening, speaking, and reading are given a lot of importance so that a student is ready to like and learn English,” he says.
Jayakumaran Asary, one of those who prepared the training module for Hello English, says teachers have prepared additional material for children such as books to help children’s reading and writing skills. They can also tap into other sources such as books by the National Book Trust or the State Institute of Children’s Literature. The techniques picked up by teachers will also be used for teaching students from them the textbook.
Now, a 10-hour bridging activity is on in schools so that students do not feel the burden of textbook teaching right away, but can gradually be introduced to it through various activities and material. The bridging activity will be completed by June 21, and after an assessment of students’ learning abilities by teachers, the parents will be informed about it. Parents will also get an opportunity to gauge for themselves the improvements from various performances put up by students at ‘Padanotsavam’ to be organised in schools.
