Coming A Full Chalk Circle

Head, shoulders, knees and toes," chant a group of 50 'students' in a classroom in Vaghire College in Saswad village, Pune. In the adjacent classroom, an instructor reads: "At the dining table they have bread, tea, biscuits and fruits. Would you like some?" The class repeats in unison.

A stranger can't but look upon these avid learners with dismay—they have diligently sacrificed the pleasures of a summer vacation at the altar of good old Mother Goose.

These dhoti-clad and topi-sporting men, and sari and burqa-clad women are primary schoolteachers from non-English medium schools of Maharashtra, undergoing a six-day training in spoken English under the Statewide Massive and Rigorous Training for Primary Teachers (smartpt) initiative of the Maharashtra government. This monsoon, 1.27 lakh teachers are getting back to their schools after learning the class two curriculum. They'll teach what they learn to nearly 10 million students.

This is a far cry from Maharashtra's decades-old stubborn stand that learning English can only dilute the worth and value of Marathi among Maharashtrians. As soon as the present government came to power in 1999, school education minister Ramakrishna More proposed introducing English in primary schools as a subject. Ajit Deshpande, deputy director of education, Maharashtra State Council for Educational Research and Training (scert), who is in charge of this programme, says: "Learning English gives every child and adult confidence and the opportunity to compete in the world."

The smartpt programme kicked off last June when 1.33 lakh teachers were trained. Says Deshpande: "Last year the teachers were apprehensive about being able to cope with the training. But this year they are more enthusiastic." Ujwala Tanaji Sonwane is an excellent example. Says this 29-year-old teacher from a two-teacher village school in Nadkarwadi: "My English-speaking skills have improved considerably. I now have the confidence to learn more English."

Last year, the teachers' curriculum was for class one. This year, almost all of them—1.27 lakh—have attended the class two curriculum. A total of 2,626 classes have been run in about 1,000 centres.

The programme began with a committee of education experts discussing a curriculum to make the teaching effective in village and municipal schools. The state has managed to keep its costs low at Rs 620 per teacher which includes boarding, lodging and study material.

Much detailing has gone into the preparation of the study material. The state has schools run in Marathi, Hindi, Urdu, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Sindhi and Gujarati languages. So, the material has been prepared with instructions in these languages. A Marathi-speaking teacher is given the content in Marathi. The rhymes too are in that particular script, of course, accompanied by the originals in Roman. 'Listen, Learn and Enjoy' cassettes have also been issued.

The course is rigorous. In the 62.5 hours of training over six days, 29 hours are dedicated to English classes, while 9.5 hours are used for self-study and group work. Some 13 hours have been set aside for value education and annual course planning among other things. The teachers-turned-students are also taught yoga, recitation of rhymes. Cultural programmes are organised.

Deshpande and his colleagues have been exacting in their attention to detail. Four instructors look after each class. The emphasis is on phonetic and sonic learning of English—through speaking and hearing rather than reading and writing. Interestingly, several teachers are English graduates but aren't conversant in the language.

It's not only about learning English again. Several significant topics have been added to the curriculum to help raise the village school standards to that of the best city schools. Teachers are also being taught about empowering the girl child and how to treat a single woman parent. Environmental studies have also been added. Besides, teachers are also being taught to identify and handle children with learning disabilities like dyslexia.

The teachers seem enthusiastic and students in the village and municipal schools are also excited at the prospect of learning English. Says Sheikh Feroza Ramzan, 39, who teaches at the Urdu-medium school in Gorpadipeth: "Since we began teaching English, absenteeism has come down from 30 per cent to 10 per cent. They no longer feel inferior to their friends in English-medium schools." Vishnu Bahusaheb Jagtap, 51, who runs a single-teacher, zilla parishad school of 25 students in Hambirwadi village, feels "learning English has actually made my students learn their lessons faster and better". According to Jagtap, the students have been asking for more English classes and enjoy the newness of it.

Encouraged by the results, Deshpande now plans improving on it. He and his colleagues are confident that they are going to get better every year. Going back to school is not just about ABC.