17 May,2010 09:45 AM IST | | Alifiya Khan
Principals fear Marathi will lose importance, oppose PCB proposal to offer schooling in English
Barely two weeks after the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) mooted a proposal to start offering English medium education to Marathi students, the proposal has received stiff opposition from people within the organisation.
PCB chief Rachel Koshy had announced that all PCB-run schools would become bilingual from next academic session and students will have the option to choose either English or Marathi as a medium of education.
Sources in the PCB said that a meeting was organised with headmistresses and education officers along with Koshy and heads of schools expressed their discontent.
K B Tiwarkhede, PCB officer who oversees education, said that it was unlikely bilingual education would become a reality in the near future.
Many objections
"At the meeting, there were many objections. There are total nine schools out of which eight are teaching in Marathi medium," said Tiwarkhede.
"Teachers are sure that if bilingual education is offered, students will opt for English and not Marathi medium. This would mean loss of work for Marathi teachers as well as loss of local language."
At present, 5,300 children study in PCB-run schools that comprise of six primary and three high schools.
It was proposed that initially only students from fifth to tenth standard would be offered the choice of medium, and later even primary students would get to make a choice.
"If students are to learn English they have to start from basics; it would be difficult for them to learn at an advanced stage," said A Salunkhe, headmistress of PCB-run Dr Ambedkar Memorial High School at Solapur Road.
Another concern expressed by the school administrators was that currently they get a sizeable grant on account of teaching in the regional language, which might not remain so if they switch to English medium.
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"What we have suggested instead, is to offer vocational courses in English for existing Marathi medium students," said another principal.
5,300
Number of children in schools run by Pune Cantonment Board
