Is Rajasthan's English experiment a failure?

'These English medium schools have been opened without any infrastructure.'
'What is taught here is a mockery of the English language.'
Prakash Bhandari reports on Rajasthan's government-run English medium schools.

Angrezi Medium, one of the last films starring Irrfan Khan, focused on the younger generation's obsession with an education in English and their desire to pursue further studies in a foreign country.

The film -- which was shot in the late actor's home state, Rajasthan -- shows how Irrfan, a dedicated father based in Udaipur, vows to educate his daughter in the English medium.

Rajasthan's Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot seems -- like Irrfan's character -- to be obsessed with English as well and, through budgetary allocations, is converting some of the state's government-run Hindi medium schools into English medium ones.

'I am amazed to see a small child going to an English medium school converse in English fluently. Knowing English, which is an international language, has its advantages. I feel sorry for myself as I don't know how to converse in English.

'As a postgraduate who has served as a Union minister -- and this is my third tenure as chief minister -- I am comfortable reading and writing in English. However, I must admit my spoken English is not good. This is why I want every child in my state to study, and excel, in English.'

'My government plans to open 1,200 Mahatma Gandhi English Medium Schools, of which 350 have already started functioning in each of the state's 33 districts.

'The number of students seeking admission in these schools is so amazing that we have had to adopt a merit-based lottery system to cope with the demand.

'I am sure that, in the next few years, the educational standards in these schools will match those at expensive public schools.

'We will make English medium schools available to the common man. Every parent who is unable to send their children to a convent school would be able to educate their children at such schools,' said Chief Minister Gehlot.

The Mahatma Gandhi English Medium Schools, which are quite popular in the state, also offer pre-primary education for children aged three and above. With the implementation of this order, Rajasthan has become the only state in the country to conduct pre-primary classes in English in government schools.

The pre-primary classes -- nursery, KG1 and KG2 -- are spread across three years. The number of pupils per class is limited to 25 -- classes are held for four hours every weekday -- to ensure maximum student-teacher communication.

The little ones will be taught by Level 1 teachers hired by the education department, says the government.

'This will not only improve the level of education but will also create positive competition in Rajasthan's education environment. It will directly benefit parents and students,' said Gehlot.

The chief minister has also allocated Rs 14.50 crores (Rs 145 million) for opening an English medium residential school in Jaipur for the minority community.

Earlier, the Mahatma Gandhi English Medium Schools only offered Classes 1-8. Since then, one class has been added each year. 

In July last year, the number of applications for admissions was nearly thrice the number of available seats.

"We received 60,000 applications for 18,093 seats for Class 1 alone in July last year; such was the overwhelming response," says a senior official from the state's education department.

"Education that is available for lakhs of rupees in private schools is now being made available free of cost in these schools. Many parents, who want to stay away from fee disputes but are seeking quality education for their children, are choosing such English medium schools. The teachers's cadre has also been created separately to ensure high-quality education," observed Jain Bittu, state spokesperson, Sanyukta Abhibhavak Sangh, a platform for parents who have enrolled their children in these schools.

Parents who have sent their children to these schools do not, however, have such glowing words of praise. They say the quality of education is very poor and the teachers do not have the required qualifications to teach in an English medium school.

"I sent my son, Vigyan, to one such school after withdrawing him from an expensive but good local school. But I found that it's an English medium school in name only; the students are taught English through the Hindi medium. There are no qualified teachers who have studied English as a subject.

"Faced with these poor standards, I had no choice but to remove my son from here and get him readmitted in his old school where he is taught properly in English medium.

"The state government conducted has interviews for selecting English teachers, but the results are yet to be declared. Many of the applicants had BA Honours and post-graduate degrees in English, but the state government is yet to give appointment letters," said Jaipur-based Abhay Agnihotri, an officer in the state insurance department.

A delegation of parents met the education department's officials in Jaipur and suggested that the English medium schools should be privatised. They also suggested hiring an agency that has qualified staff experienced in imparting education in English until the state is ready with its own infrastructure.

"These English medium schools have been opened without any infrastructure. What is taught here is a mockery of the English language. The parents who sent their children to these schools had no clue that they did not have qualified teachers. They are teaching in the Hindi medium. No wonder the children have not made any progress in learning English.

"I have been running the Delhi International Public School in Bikaner. I sent a suggestion to the state education department that schools already engaged in imparting education in the English language should be engaged to impart English medium education.

"There are a lot of agencies now that can be hired on merit to run such schools. Such agencies should also impart training to teachers. An English medium school teacher should be well-versed in spoken English to impart education.

"The state should privatise such schools and allow them to be run by private agencies that can guarantee a quality education," said Sunil Gupta, head of Bikaner's DIPS.

While the state government is already running such 350 schools, experts suggest it should not open any more English medium government schools till a robust infrastructure is in place.

Mahatma Gandhi had said, 'By education, I mean an all-round drawing of the best in a child and man in body, mind, and spirit.'

The beautiful slogan inscribed at the entrance of many schools 'ज्ञानार्थ प्रवेश, सेवार्थ प्रस्थान' also reflects the essence of education.

Rajasthan, which once lagged in the field of education, is now set to witness a sea change. However, the government-run English medium schools are a poor example of that attempt at change.

Amidst the COVID-19 gloom, the fact that the state received an A+ ranking in the PGI 2019-20 (Performance Grading Index) released by the Union education ministry in June 2020 was a bright ray of hope.

The PGI analyses the performance of states on 70 parameters and Rajasthan was one of the five states and Union territories to get this ranking.

Unfortunately, the way these so-called English medium schools are being run could cost Rajasthan its ranking in the grading index.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com