HC notice to state govt over spoken English

When the contempt petition by Appavu came up, a division bench of Justices Vineet Kothari and CV Karthikeyan issued notice to the Secretary of the School Education department, Pradeep Yadav, returnable by September 4.

Passing orders on the petition on January 5, the bench had directed the Secretary of School Education department to decide on the representation made by the petitioner after giving due opportunity of hearing within eight weeks.

Originally, the petitioner had filed a PIL seeking a direction to the State government to introduce spoken English in government schools in Tamil Nadu as a compulsory subject. The petitioner submitted that in 12,419 private schools alone, about 40 lakh students were studying.

He further submitted that though English was taught as a second language from Class 2 to 12 in Tamil medium government aided and un-aided schools, students were unable to converse or understand if spoken to in English. The petitioner pointed out that Tamil medium students could not fare well because of lack of communication skills in spoken English. This inability continues even in work places, he said. He stressed the need to place emphasis on Spoken English as a compulsory subject from Class 2 to 12 in all Tamil medium government, aided and un-aided schools.