Teachers welcome Eng labs, seek to start it from Class 5 itself

VELLORE: The Education Department’s move to provide English language labs in high and higher secondary schools has been welcomed by teachers. They also demanded that such labs be set up to help students from Class 5 onwards as only then would they be able to develop fluency.

TN Vocational Teachers Kazhagam president SN Janardhanan said, “As teachers we know that starting such labs at the tail end of school life might not have the desired effect, especially in rural areas where students do not focus on English.”

An engineering college lecturer preferring anonymity said, “even at the college level where the English communication lab is part of the third year curriculum, students still find it difficult to pass simple language tests, despite all facilities being provided in the lab.”

“The government/department should first create awareness among the student community on the need and importance of the English lab before ordering them to participate,” said TN PG Teachers Association Vellore district secretary RS Aziz Kumar.

TN Primary School Teachers Association Vellore district secretary A Srinivasan felt, “Starting at Class 5 will be ideal as students will still have 7 years before reaching Class 12 and thus it will help them acquire proficiency in the language.”

Asked if teachers were consulted on such labs, Janardhanan who is also the JACTO-GEO executive committee member replied in the negative. “They might have consulted some experts, but they fail to realise that when it comes to school students, teachers are the best qualified to provide advice on what students need,” he added.

However, all teachers were united in saying that only disciplined students would succeed and for this moral education for school students was must. “Such moral education stories could also be made part of the input for such labs,” they averred.