The Times of India   28.08.2012

Surat Municipal Corporation plans English medium schools

SURAT: Surat Municipal Corporation ( SMC)
has started a pilot project to run English medium schools in seven
zones of the city. Nagar Prathmik Shikshan Samiti (NPSS) that runs 272
municipal schools in seven mediums imparting primary education to nearly
1.35 lakh students will implement the decision immediately. “We
have made the provision for English-medium schools in our budget,” said
Bhimji Patel, chairman, standing committee. “The need for education in
English is felt by everyone. There are large number of families who
can’t afford English-medium education for their children in private
schools.

Thus, it is an attempt by us to provide a level-playing field
to students from the lower strata of the society,” he added.NPSS chairman Atul Patel
told TOI, “We have started the process of getting approvals for running
the schools in all zones. We have no problems with regard to premises.
English-medium schools will become functional in all the zones in the
next academic term. We have also demanded teachers for these schools
from the education department.”Patel said, “At present, there
are just 255 students in the two English-medium schools run by us in
class I, II and III. In three years, we want these schools to have at
least 10,000 students and VII and VIII classes also in English-medium.
This is our pilot project.

However, looking at the response, we are not
averse to increasing the number of English-medium schools across the
city.”NPSS runs Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi, Urdu, Telugu, Oriya and English mediums.Rakesh Desai, professor and head of the department of English at VNSGU,
said, “It is a welcome change. We do need English in all spheres of
life.”The number of English-medium students has increased
manifold in Surat after the entry of schools affiliated to CBSE and ICSE
boards. Five years ago, the number of English-medium students appearing
from the city in classes X and XII were at about 8,000. At present,
10,000 students give their examinations conducted by Gujarat Secondary
and Higher Secondary Education Board and 15,000 by other boards every
year in English from the city.