English classes on weekends for govt. PU college students

They will be tutored in grammar and spoken English skills

To help students of government pre-university colleges become conversant in English, the Department of Pre-University Education (DPUE) plans to conduct special classes on weekends. Students will be tutored in grammar and spoken English skills.

As per the DPUE’s plan, these classes will be conducted at the taluk level from July to January for half a day on the weekends. Classes are optional, but the attendance of students will be tracked, officials said, and added that they would be open to both, first as well as second PU students.

Four-hour classes

Each class will be for four hours: in the first half, the focus will be on spoken English, and for the remaining two hours, students will brush up their grammar skills.

Tanveer Sait, Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, said a large number of students in government colleges would have studied in Kannada-medium schools and this extra coaching would help them prepare for higher education.

The focus will be on children from rural areas. “Our students are able to write in English, but are hesitant to converse in it. These spoken English classes are likely to help them gain confidence,” said C. Shikha, Director of the department.

The aim is to help students communicate better and also help them write short stories and letters.

The department plans to build a bank of lecturers from government, aided and private PU colleges who will be available on weekends to conduct these classes. Lecturers will be given remuneration.