About 200 girls pursuing various courses at Kakatiya University make a beeline for the Zoology seminar room every evening.
It is here that they are offered free English coaching that prepares them for campus interviews and other competitive examinations. “This is a gift for us. We are shy to go for Spoken English classes outside. We are happy that classes are offered on campus,” said Raja Kumari, an M.Com student.
The idea was conceived and executed by Vice-Chancellor B. Venkat Ratnam.
Speaking to The Hindu , he said he was happy to see cent per cent attendance in the English class. “Many bunk regular classes on some or the other pretext but all the 200 girls come for this class. I am very happy to see this,” he says.
As most students hail from remote rural areas, they lack basic communication skills and functional English language. To help them overcome fear, the 40-day programme was planned.
CommitmentAssistant Professor of English, K. Yakaiah, who is in-charge of the programme, said the response from girl students was tremendous. “It is indeed a surprise to me to see the attendance. It shows their commitment to learning English. The feedback from students is good and many say they are able to follow the class. Some of them picked up little and by the end, I hope they would have greatly benefited from the programme,” he told The Hindu .
Priyanka, an LLB first year student said, “We are grateful to our Vice-Chancellor for arranging this programme. He fulfilled our wish.”
A student of B.Tech second year, Mounika, said that it was the first of its kind Spoken English class as it was exclusively meant for girls. “This programme helps us acquire a functional level of English,” she said.
The methods adopted to teach English include peer learning, group speaking audios and videos on pronunciation and Spoken English, said Mr. Yakaiah.
