ಸಂಚಿಕೆ ೭ : ಗ್ರಾಮೀಣ ಶಿಕ್ಷಣ ಹಾಗೂ ಆಂಗ್ಲ ಭಾಷೆ (Episode 7 : The Challenges of Teaching English to Children in Rural Areas)

Sandeep Kulakarni has been teaching English at the Govt. Higher Primary School, Yaraguddi, Bailahongala for 13 years.
 
He thinks teaching English to rural students is a big challenge because they do not get a conducive environment for English teaching. Students might do the relevant activities for all other subjects, but no such scope for English. But he has accepted the challenge! He follows a different method for primary students and yet another method for higher primary students.
 
 He is happy about the material provided by DSERT which has sufficient activities such as singing, story telling, dancing, etc. which demand total physical response from the learners. Pictorial representation would also be  very helpful to the teacher.
 
For the higher primary level, he thinks the best gift by a teacher to the students is an English dictionary. This would help build basic vocabulary such as names of animals, fruits and vegetables and things around the children. Sandeep thinks making the children write at least one page of ‘copy writing’ would go a long way in teaching English. He makes effective use of number charts and other teaching aids.
 
He is very happy about the 'Language Mela' conducted by the education department. His students have participated at various levels of the competitions and have won prizes. He recognises it as a combined effort of the students, teachers and the education department.
 
He feels children are hesitant to use English at the initial stage. However, the activities that he does, along with the teaching material and an effective method of teaching, they show the enthusiasm to learn the language. He also insists on doing all the activities given in the workbook provided by the department of education. He mentions Rainbow – 1 and Rainbow – 2.
 
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