The Hindu 15.11.2010
Civic members back to school
N.J.Nair
| Training programme to improve their English language skills |
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Newly elected members of local self-government institutions will be exposed to a new training programme that will sharpen their speaking and writing skills in English.
Irrespective of their qualification, it has been proposed to include all members starting from grama panchayats to municipal corporations in different sessions to be held in the districts.
A comprehensive training schedule is understood to have been worked out by the district centres for English which are already running formal language training programmes for different sections in the State.
The district centres which come under the administrative control of the Director of Public Instructions is duly equipped to take up such initiatives and the preliminary round of discussions for launching the training sessions have been concluded too.
The Central Institute of English and Foreign Languages (CIEFL) is providing academic support for preparing a module for the training programme. The comprehensive training module will attach equal importance to the speaking and writing skills of the trainees.
Already, the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) is conducting training sessions for the civic members on a variety of subjects like preparation of Plan projects, administrative matters and financial asset management. The language training programme is expected to boost the administrative acumen of the elected representatives.
Official sources told The Hindu that the idea was mooted mainly to support the major interventions made by the civic bodies during the past five years to improve the quality of education in schools under their control.
Many panchayats, especially those in the backward areas, made path breaking experiments in garnering local talent, mainly retired teachers, for enhancing the pass percentage of SSLC and the standard of students. The majority of them have yielded desired results.
All such experiments were made at the behest of elected members. Lack of a thorough grasp of the language was identified as a major impediment in making more meaningful interventions. The new training programme is expected to make up such problems and provide tips for improving the teaching of English in schools at various levels.
The task of elected members has become more exacting with the devolution of powers and funds to the civic bodies.
Complaints of members failing to comprehend circulars and guidelines issued by the State government on preparation of Plan projects and the Central government on the schemes under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewable Mission (JNNURM) are aplenty.
The training sessions are expected to be a solution to such problems and also improve the quality of local governance too.
