In the 1986 Malayalam movie Dooredoore oru koodu koottam , the government school teacher played by Mohanlal sheepishly translates Uppumavu into English as ‘salt-mango tree.’ The iconic scene captured one of the major issues that plagued English education in the State: teachers who aren’t fluent in the language themselves.
Three decades later, we have come a long way from the ‘salt-mango tree’ days. The last ten years, in particular, have seen vast improvement in the way English is learnt in public school classrooms.
The Kerala Curriculum Framework (KCF), introduced in 2007, brought about a marked shift from the usual rote-learning to an activity-based learning technique, wherein students are encouraged to become proficient in the language by using it.
However, the Achilles’ heel of the English education system is yet to be fully cured, as teachers become an obstacle to the effective implementation of the improved curriculum due to no fault of their own.
No specialised teachers
Unlike in the high school and higher secondary sections, in classes 1 to 7, there are no specialised teachers for English, with the minimum qualification to teach being the completion of Plus Two and the Teachers Training Course (TTC). As a result, English teachers in these classes often have no advanced training in the language.
For example, Bindu (name changed), who has eight years of experience in teaching Physics and Mathematics in classes 5 to 7 at a government school in the capital city, was asked to teach English in class 6 this year. With limited fluency in the language herself, she is unsatisfied with her work. Although she has the teachers’ handbook for assistance, its use is limited, she says.
Training programmes
The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) tries to address this issue by holding periodic programmes to train teachers in the new learning techniques, such as the recently launched Hello English project. While these training programmes are helpful, only one or two teachers from a school are able to participate in them, and their ability to impart what they learn to the other teachers may be limited.
It may also happen that teachers with experience, training and interest in English may end up being transferred to other schools where they have to teach other subjects.
Legal obstacle
The only solution to this issue is an amendment to the Kerala Education Rules (KER), 1959, which will require teachers to have a minimum of a Bachelors degree in English to teach it at the primary level.
Although such an amendment, which will also contribute to the professional development of the teachers, was proposed by a Union government-appointed joint committee in 2014, a serious discussion on it is yet to be initiated, says an SSA official.
Until this comes about, the primary school English teachers in Kerala will have to make the best of what they have.
