Odisha to start spoken English classes from Standard 1

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik who issued the orders on Wednesday for starting spoken English in Std 1, said it would give the children better life opportunities.

Breaking out from its practice of teaching English in Std 3, Odisha would start teaching spoken English from Std 1 in all its schools and develop 101 schools as centres of excellence where an English medium section would be started from Std 1.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik who issued the orders on Wednesday for starting spoken English in Std 1, said it would give the children better life opportunities. Odisha school and mass education minister Samir Ranjan Dash said the new initiative is aimed at breaking the stereotype that government school students cannot converse well in English.

“Guardians of students are keen to see their kids learn English from elementary classes. The spoken English will not only help students learn English much better but also improve their foundation,” said the minister.

Around 72 pc students who had failed in the HSC examinations in 2019 had failed in English paper alone.