Only 37.2% of Class V students in rural Tamil Nadu can understand easy sentences in English, giving rise to the chorus for improving reading and comprehension skills among children in the early stages.
The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2016, which took into consideration over 33,000 children across 31 districts in the State, points out that with regard to Tamil too, the figures are worrisome.
At the Class V Level, only 45.2 per cent of children are able to read a Class II text.
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Different pedagogy
“As far as English reading and comprehension goes, the pedagogy that we follow is a lot different from what is followed all over the world. While children everywhere else are allowed to listen to the language, then read and write, here there is an overemphasis on writing right from the time the child joins kindergarten,” said Prince Gajendra Babu, general secretary, State Platform for the Common School System.
“A majority of the government schools also lack teachers qualified to teach English and the Education Department should work towards providing teachers who are trained and updated in the language,” he said.
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The survey examines the library facilities in schools and the books available, which shows a dip since 2014.
Beyond classrooms
“Many schools fail to realise that having a library and encouraging children to read is extremely important as this will help them think beyond classrooms. It is treated as a mundane activity in many schools and many teachers do not want to have a separate period for reading,” said K.R. Malathy, CEO of Auuro Educational Services.
“We have observed during school audits that even teachers are not encouraged to use school libraries. The facility in most private schools is there merely to fulfil a norm.”
Well-trained librarians and school managements which encourage both the faculty and students to use the library can promote a better reading culture, she added.