MAHATMA GANDHI ENGLISH MEDIUM SCHOOLS REFLECT THE ESSENCE OF EDUCATION

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “By education, I mean an allround drawing of the best in a child and man in body, mind and spirit.” Also, the beautiful slogan inscribed at the entrance of many schools “ज्ञानार््थ प्रवेश, सेवार््थ प्रस््थथान” reflects the essence of education. The state government of Rajasthan, adopting the very thoughts, has brought a sea of change in the education system by opening Mahatma Gandhi English Medium Schools.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot says,“ I am pleased to see a child going to an English medium school converse in English fluently. Learning English has its own advantages. I want every child in the state to study English as a language and excel in competition. Therefore, the government, after opening Mahatma Gandhi English medium schools in urban areas, has decided to open these schools in the rural areas too. The government intends to make such schools available to a common man who is unable to enroll their children into Convent Schools.”

In Rajasthan, formal English education, before Mahatma Gandhi English Medium Schools, was being imparted from Class Sixth only. Thus, the students, groomed with Hindi medium instructions, felt difficulties in grasping the English language.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot decided to launch Mahatma Gandhi English medium schools in the year 2019 on the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi to impart education from Class 1 to Class 12th.

These schools envisaged to be developed as a centre of excellence and as per the Vision 2028 paper prepared by the education department under the guidance of Education Minister Dr BD Kalla.

Implementing the Vision 2028 and commemorating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, one government school in all the 33 district headquarters was converted as a specialized English medium school and named after Mahatma Gandhi. The medium of instruction in these selected schools from class one to 8 was kept in English. It was decided that the medium of instruction would be in English from 9th to 12th subsequently.

“In the beginning we decided to keep the strength upto 30 students from class 1st to 5th, 35 from 6th to 8th and 60 from 9th to 12th per section. The response of the students to get enrolled in the schools was very immense. So, the department had to adopt the transparent system of selecting the students by drawing lots,” said Kalla.

In the financial year 2021-22, 533 government schools were converted into Mahatma Gandhi English medium school. Similarly, another 445 schools were converted into English medium schools in the financial year 2022-23.

The response by the students could be gauged with the fact that in the year 2021-22 some 89,570 students got themselves enrolled in the English medium Mahatma Gandhi School. In Dausa district’s Chhatriwali Dhani, which is situated in a rural area, the enrolment of students in the English medium school snowballed from 88 (2020- 2021) to 242 (2022-23).

Of the 66,223 government schools in Rajasthan, 2,029 schools have been sanctioned as Mahatma Gandhi English schools—137 in villages, 302 in cities and 755 in big villages with a population of more than 5,000. Currently, the number of English medium schools is 1,658. The English medium education up to the 11th standard is being imparted in 33 schools and up to 8th standard in 200 other schools. The Chief Minister Gehlot has made a budgetary announcement to open another 1,000 schools in the year 2023-2024.

In the year 2021, a decision was taken by the state government to establish a 1,000 Mahatma Gandhi Schools in the urban areas and an equal number in the rural areas.

Starting English medium schools with qualified teachers was a big challenge. Thus, it was decided to appoint 10,000 contractual teachers for running the schools. The state government would provide contractual employment to such teachers who hold the qualification to join the English cadre. The contractual employment for the English cadre will be provided in Level I and Level II. For Level 1, it would be mandatory that the applicant should have studied in the English medium school and had passed the 12th examination in English medium. He or she will also have to possess an elementary diploma. The Level 2 eligibility would be to graduate in English medium with a minimum of BEd degree. This job would be contractual and the teachers would be paid Rs 16,900 per month.

It was also necessary to make academic initiatives to ensure quality education in such schools. It was decided to disburse free textbooks in English to the students. In the towns and cities, fund allocation of Rs 5 lakh was made to buy furniture and other items, and for rural areas it was kept at Rs 2.50 lakh.

“The number of students opting for English medium school is amazing. Apart from merit, we have to adopt a lottery system to cope up with the demand. I am sure in the next few years, our educational standard in such an English medium would meet the standards set by reputed public schools. “ said CM Gehlot.

The Mahatma Gandhi English medium schools that have become quite popular in Rajasthan, started pre-primary classes for children aged three and above also. Thus, Rajasthan has become the first state in north India to take this step.

“This will not only improve the level of education but will also create competition in the educational environment of the state. It will benefit students and parents as well. I am happy to say that this is the first initiative taken in north India,” said Gehlot. Over a crore students have enrolled themselves for the English medium school.

A strong monitoring system has been set up to ensure quality education in Mahatma Gandhi English Medium Schools. A separate separate cell will be set up for this at the Directorate of Primary /Secondary Education, Bikaner and nine Educational Divisions. The accent will be on sports and other activities and for this staff have been provided for these English medium schools.

Rajasthan has got 1+ ranking in the Performance Grading Index of the Ministry of Education, Government of India. Rajasthan was in first position at the national level in the Fit India Movement session 2020-21. In the Inspire Award Scheme, Rajasthan stood at the first position in the country (session 2020-21 and 2021-22). To honour the sacrifice made by the martyrs, a total of 297 schools have been named after the martyrs.

Mahatma Gandhi English medium schools had only Classes 1-8. Since then, one class each year has been added to accommodate promoted students. The schools in total have shot up from 33 to 350. In July last year, the number of applications for admissions received was nearly thrice the available seats.

“The costly education available in private schools is now being made available free of cost in these schools. Many parents are choosing to stay away from the high fee charging schools. The teacher’s cadre being created would ensure that the teachers who have sound knowledge of English would impart quality education,” observed Jain Bittu, state spokesperson, Sanyukta Abhibhavak Sangh, a platform for parents who have enrolled their children.

Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has allocated Rs 14.50 cr for opening an English medium residential school for minority community in Jaipur.

THE VIEWS EXPRESSED BY THE AUTHOR ARE PERSONAL

PRAKASH BHANDARI The writer is a veteran journalist for 50 years with standing in bilingual journalism. He had a long association with the Times of India as its Editorial Advisor.