Maybe a debate relevant to Goa, which has a rather confused position on English-medium education. FN
English-medium students outshine Gujarati counterparts >From Indo-Asian News Service Ahmedabad, June 8 (IANS) English-medium students have outclassed their Gujarati-medium counterparts to dominate the merit list of the Gujarat Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examination. Traditionally, Gujarati-medium schools like Diwan Ballubhai and C.N. Vidyalay of Ahmedabad and Sardar Vidyalay and Utkarsh Vidyalay of Vadodara use to have the maximum merit holders. However, this year English-medium students scored an impressive 82.89 percent result in the examination compared to the 64.53 percent by Gujarati-medium students. "This could be attributed to the increasing number of English-medium students in Gujarat over the past decade," said J. Pandya, a tutorial school teacher. "Earlier, Gujarati families would send their children to Gujarati-medium schools, and only parents from other states, mostly south Indians, would admit their children to English-medium schools. "But with the beginning of 1990, even Gujarati parents started preferring English-medium schools," Pandya added. Pandya, who teaches mathematics to both English and Gujarati-medium students, believes Gujarati parents started admitting their children to English-medium schools out of fashion. "Parents started believing that their children would receive advanced and modern education if they were admitted to English-medium schools," said Pandya. Said Education Minister Anandiben Patel: "The percentage scored by the English-medium students is like a slap in the face of those who are dead against this medium." In the HSC (science) examination too English-medium students faired better, scoring 53.91 percent against 41.18 percent average marks secured by the Gujarati-medium. The results have clearly shocked principals of Gujarati-medium schools. "We are surprised that none of the Diwan Ballubhai students made it to the top 10," Diwan Ballubhai school principal D.M. Patel was quoted as saying. "It is the first time in 25 years that our students have failed to bag any place in the HSC merit lists. The reason perhaps is the generosity shown in assessing the papers in the last two years because of the earthquake and the communal violence." "One reasons for such (poor) results could be that this year English-medium teachers were roped in for assessment despite resistance," alleged C.N. Vidyalay principal Shailesh Bhatt. In Vadodara, Marathi-medium student Gayatri Joshi was the only student from the city to figure in the state merit list. Eight of the 17 city merit holders were from English-medium schools, while four each were from the Gujarati and Sindhi-medium schools. "Private and unaided schools are giving quality-based education, and most private schools happen to be English medium," said university lecturer Sarita Agrawal, who has researched on secondary education in Gujarat. --Indo-Asian News Service ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
