NDTV.com homepage
India
  » Story
 
  SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend
Students punished for not speaking English
NDTV Correspondent, Tuesday October 27, 2009, Hyderabad

A young boy and girl stand with cardboard banners around their necks. The signs declare "I never speak in Telugu."

That's the bizarre punishment for children who broke into Telugu at their private, English-medium school in the Kadapa district of Andhra Pradesh.  

"We are inquiring whether the teachers themselves resorted to this punishment, whether the headmaster instructed them or it is the policy of the school management. Once we know, we will initiate strict action. We may even withdraw permission for the school," warns M Varaprasad, Education Minister, Andhra Pradesh.
 
 
More »
 
SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend     
Comments: Read | Post
Tags: Andhra, English-medium school
Comments
Posted by pls on Nov 30, 2009
Tamil is the mother,father,grand father of all languages
Posted by allen on Nov 02, 2009
The means to achieve what was intended was wrong, but the intentions are just. As one of the readers aptly mentioned, something creative must be given as punishment. We cannot make English optional, that is out of the question as it would hinder the child's future. Children will always catch up with the local dialect, but with English, with majority of us not having a command over the language, school becomes the only place of learning it properly. All said and done, I would still reiterate that the means that the school resorted to cannot be justified.
More Comments
Advertisement
Advertisement
On Facebook

Blogs

Ground Zero | By Joydeep Ray
A lunch with Bal Thackeray
The lazy afternoon is now full of action, not in the newsroom but in the kitchen of the bureau. Mr Thackeray, we invite you for lunch.
A Fine Balance | By Supriya Sharma
Bihar: Reason vs Reasonable
Within Bihar, Nitish faces a rising tide of opposition that now engulfs his own political party, the Janata Dal United.
More »