Four Chennai Corporation schools to teach French from Class 6

CHENNAI: As part of upgradation and to make city corporation schools students compete with private schools, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Alliance Française of Madras to introduce the French language in four corporation schools.

The signing took place in the presence of Chennai Mayor R Priya and the Consul General of France, Lise Talbot Barre.

Initially, the French language would be launched as an optional subject for 20 students per school in four schools - Chennai Higher Secondary School at Perambur and Tondiarpet; Chennai Girls Higher Secondary School at Saidapet and Thiruvanmiyur. This initiative represents a significant step in cultural and educational development between the Greater Chennai Corporation and the Alliance Française of Madras, noted a press release from Ripon Building on Wednesday.

The classes are being conducted in select Chennai Corporation schools, starting from Class VI onwards. The focus is to provide students with an opportunity to learn a foreign language and enhance their career prospects. The classes are being taught by trained teachers and follow the French curriculum.

During the financial year 2022 - 2023, mayor Priya announced that teachers at corporation schools were instructed to improve English reading skills, the students should read the lesson for 5 mins and will be explained by the concerned subject teachers.

Similarly, to scale up the language skills in the schools, the school lending library scheme was implemented in August 2022 for the students of classes 4 to 12. Through the scheme, all the students studying in corporation schools take books to their homes and increase their ability to read. The school libraries record the students' details and the books they lend to them.