Make English compulsory from class 1, recommends Knowledge panel

New Delhi, Jan 14 (UNI) Underscoring the advantage of knowing English in seeking access to higher education and employment opportunities, the National Knowledge Commission has recommended that the language be taught from Class one in schools nationwide.

English should be introduced from the beginning along with the first language(either the mother tongue or the regional language) of the child, the Commission said in its first annual report, submitted to the Prime Minister.

Stress should be on using the language without disproportionate emphasis on grammar and rules, the Commission felt.

English should not be treated as stand-alone, add-on subject, but be integrated into the school curriculum.

''Those who do not know English well enough find it exxceedingly difficult to compete for a place in our premier educational institutionss. This disadvanatge is accentuated further in the world of work, not only in professional occupations but also in white-collar jobs overall,'' the Commission observed.

The panel found it surprising that English has been a part of the education system for more than a century, yet was beyond the reach of most of young people.

It said the available information suggested that lower and middle income groups spent a large prportion of their modest income on sending their children to relatively expensive English medium schools.

But there were a very large number of people who simply do not have the resources for such investment, and the outcome is exclusion.

It noted that though nine states (of which six are in the north-east region) and three Union Territories had already introduced English as compulsory subject from clas one onwards and as many as 12 states and three Union Territories had made English a compulsory subject at different stages, but the implementation of the decision was slow and the quality of English language teaching not good enough.

The panel suggested that to meet the requirement for English teachers, graduates with high proficiency in English and good communication skills should be inducted without requiring a formal teacher training.

The Commission has also recommended that language learning should not be separated from content learning.

English should be used to teach some non-language, content subject, starting from third standard. The choice of subject for this purpose can be left to schools depending upon the proficiency of teachers and availability of material, it said.

The Knowledge Commision is a high-level advisory body to the Prime Minister. It has been mandated to guide policy and direct reforms, focusing on certain key areas such as education, science and technology, agriculture, industry, e-governance etc.

Easy access to knowledge, creation and preservation of knowledge systems, dissemination of knowledge and better knowledge services are core concerns of the commission.

The Commission was constituted on June 30, 2005 with a time-frame of three years.

UNI