Karnataka plans 180-hour spoken English classes in government schools starting this year: Report

Approximately 1,000 schools, including Karnataka Public Schools, will be selected based on student strength.

Karnataka's Department of School Education and Literacy is gearing up to launch dedicated spoken English classes for government school students in the upcoming academic year, Times of India reported. This comes after a stalled rollout last year.

The earlier plan, announced in 2023, aimed to conduct spoken English sessions over weekends in select government schools. (Representational Image)

The earlier plan, announced in 2023, aimed to conduct spoken English sessions over weekends in select government schools. Although master trainers had been trained by the Regional Institute of English, the program never materialized due to poor execution and lack of follow-through, the report added.

This time, the department is taking a more structured approach. Officials are proposing 180 hours of spoken English instruction over the school year, the report further added. Approximately 1,000 schools, including Karnataka Public Schools, will be selected based on student strength. To support implementation, the government also plans to recruit guest teachers specifically for this program.

How are the modules designed?

According to the TOI report, the upcoming modules will focus on real-world communication, beginning with simple vocabulary-building exercises like naming objects, people, and places, before progressing to sentence construction. Later stages will introduce functional English, such as how to ask questions, seek directions, or request help. Higher levels will incorporate storytelling, arts, cultural discussions, and personal experiences to make learning more engaging.

Teachers will also be encouraged to create classroom scenarios that demand active student participation. The spoken English initiative will also be complemented by 'Ek Step', an AI-powered digital learning tool announced in the state budget, designed to make language acquisition interactive and tech-friendly.

Meanwhile, the popularity of English-medium instruction in government schools continues to surge. At present, 4,190 schools offer English-medium sections. In response to growing demand, the government has committed to adding another 4,000 such schools, as announced in last year’s budget.