Jayesh Brahmbhatt
Bhulka Vihar and Bhulka Bhavan School of Surat, in the year 2016 took a giant leap of faith by initiating dual language as a medium of instruction for subjects like Maths and Science right from the third grade for students studying in Gujarati medium. Taking this experiment stepwise to the next level, as many as 30 schools from Surat came forward to take up this experiment as a part of language skill development and it has reaped results. In the last 5 years, the performance of these schools, especially the students of these schools have shown phenomenal improvement, taking even the Gujarat Education Board by surprise and making them formally take up this idea. The Gujarat Education Board has official announced in a circular that now onwards all primary schools across state can impart lessons for subjects like Maths and Science in both Gujarati and English.
The concept is the brainchild of Dr Raees Maniyar. Agreeing with Dr Raees Maniyar are Dr Mita Vakil – principal of of BhulkaVihar School, Surat, principal of Bhulkabhavan School Dr. Sonal Desai, Jagdish italiya of Sanskar Bharti Vidyalaya and others who all unanimously understand the trouble parents in Gujarat go through. They always undergo a conflict of choosing the medium of instruction for their child whether to choose and English Medium School or a Gujarati medium.. and finally to reach an amicable solution to this problem Global medium was introduced in in almost 29 schools of Surat where medium of instruction for each class was both English and Gujarati and this project was experimented for a period of six years after which it has yielded fruitful results.
The new education policy introduced by the central government in the year 2020 already mentions the possible future of the dual medium and the Gujarat government was quick to utilise this background and come up with the revolutionary decision on 29th of July through a circular which allowed self-financed schools to request permission for global medium education within there premises..
Mita Vakil shares more information on how the global medium functions. A child is essentially taught in Gujarati for his formative years but English is also introduced on a similar level. Students from grade 3 onwards up till grade 7 learn maths and Science in both Gujarati and English and once the student reaches grade 8 the subjects automatically switched to English only. This kind of arrangement allows the child to develop his language skills through his mother tongue and also pick up additional yet essential language English as a part of his curriculum.
There was a third party evaluation conducted for seven schools of Surat that had successfully implemented Global medium and a report to the state government was sent for the same. Noted academician Dr Vinod Patel had chaired the panel who gave this experiment a green flag.
The duel medium-class essentially works on a child’s listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills for English from grade 3. While other subjects like social studies and environment are taught in Gujarati, the foundation to English as a language gets stronger with each grade.
Psychologists have always believed at the formative education of a child should always be imparted in the mother tongue.. along with that introducing a secondary language like English also has now become imperative.
How can private schools be a part of dual-medium?
Any private Primary School in Gujarat can introduce dual medium within its premises but it will have to abide by the rules and regulations as laid down by the state government. These schools will have to ensure that they are teachers and are well equipped and well versed in both languages and if not appropriate measures should be taken live training programs aur new recruitment but on no condition shall existing staff be released.
The district education officer is to be contacted for the same.
