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NEW DELHI, INDIA, October 28, 2004: In a new mantra for empowerment, many states from Kashmir to Bihar, are embracing English like never before, even if they have to make political concessions for it. Education in the Kashmir valley will never be the same again, as all government schools from this year onwards, have begun teaching English from Class I itself. They are so sure of its success that they are looking at making all government schools in Kashmir English medium. If that happens, it will be one of the only states to do so. The reason behind such a step is to make up for the damage caused by 15 years of militancy. Till last year, English was only introduced in Class six. “We realized that if we want to do well in this competitive world, we have to teach English,” said Harsh Dev Singh, Education Minister, J&K



Other states are joining in slowly. Bihar has also decided to introduce English from Class III this year instead of the usual Class VI, while adding that they would like to begin teaching it from Class 1. However, West Bengal and UP, where government officers are still banned from using English, are the real surprise candidates for this scheme. “We have asked the HRD ministry for help so that we can get better English teachers,” said Kanti Biswas, West Bengal minister.



“We are not against English but we want to promote other Indian languages as well,” said Kiran Pal Singh, UP minister. So, while UP has introduced English in primary classes for the first time last year, they have balanced it by also introducing Sanskrit at the same time. It seems that various states are waking up to the realities of globalization. They may not have all the facilities in place yet, but they are all trying to make a beginning.

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