English Medium in Schools basing on APSCERT Recommendations -Accepted - Eng Medium in Schools GO 24. School Education Department – Medium of instruction – Seeking the advice from the SCERT/State Academic Authority – Recommendations furnished – Acceptance of the recommendations of the SCERT– Orders– Issued. SCHOOL EDUCATION (PROG.I) DEPARTMENT G.O.Ms.No.24 Dt: 13/5/2020 English Medium in Schools - APSCERT Recommendations -Accepted - Eng Medium in Schools from 2020-21 Academic Year GO 24. Schools running with Urdu, Tamil, Kannada and Oriya as medium of instruction may be continued without converting them in to English medium as those groups are linguistic minorities in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Instead an option for English medium to run parallelly can be given to such schools. Commissioner, School Education has reported that as per the orders issued by the Government he has ascertained options from the (17,85,669) Parents/students against (17,87,035) parents/students wherein 96.17 % of the total options were towards English Medium, 3.05 % opted for Telugu Medium and 0.78% opted for other minor media. Government hereby accepts the report of the SCERT and the recommendations of the Commissioner, School Education. However, all further steps in furtherance of implementation of the reports for the academic year 2020-21, shall await and abide by the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the SLP to be filed by the Government.

English Medium in Schools - APSCERT Recommendations -Accepted - Eng Medium in Schools GO 24

Read the following:

• 1. G.O.Ms.No.85, School Education ( Prog.I) Department, Dt: 20.11.2019
• 2. G.O.Ms.No.89, School Education ( Prog.I) Department, Dt: 13.12.2019
• 3. G.O.Ms.No.15, School Education ( Prog.I) Department, Dt: 22.03.2020
• 4. Orders of the Hon’ble High Court of A.P. in WP (PILs) 183 & 185 of 2019 dt.15/4/2020.
• 5. e-file from the Commissioner of School Education, AP, Amaravati, dt. 20.04.2020.
• 6. G.O.Ms.No.20, School Education (Prog.I) Department, Dt: 21.04.2020.
• 7. Lr.Rc.No.ESE02/203/2020-COMMSEC-CSE dated 30.04.2020 of Commissioner School Education, AP, Ibrahimpatnam.
• 8. G.O.Ms.No.21, School Education (Prog.I) Department, Dt: 01.05.2020.
• 9. From the Director, SCERT, Lr. Rc.No.61B/C&T/2020 dated: 09.05.2020
• 10. Lr. Rc.No. ESE02/197/2020-COMM-SE-CSE, from the Commissioner of School Education, AP, Amaravati, dated 11.05.2020 & 13/5/2020.

ORDER:

• In the G.O 1st read above, orders were issued converting all classes from I to VI in Primary, Upper Primary, High Schools under all Managements into English Medium from the Academic Year 2020-21 and gradually increasing each further class from the next consequent Academic Years.
• 2. In the G.O.2nd read above, orders were issued implementing the Telugu as compulsory subject in all schools under all Managements both Government and Private Schools in the State.
• 3. In the G.O. 3rd read above, orders were issued continuing one school for Telugu Medium at Mandal Headquarters and to continue all minor medium schools in all Managements except un-aided schools in the State.
• 4. Whereas, two WPs ( PIL) i.e., 183 & 185 of 2019 have been filed in the Hon'ble High Court with a prayer to set aside the orders issued by the Government vide G.O.Ms.No.81, School Education (Prog.I) Department, dated 05.11.2019 and G.O.Ms.No.85, School Education ( Prog.I) Department, dated 20.11.2019.
• 5. In the reference 4th read above, the Hon'ble High Court in WPs (PIL) 183 & 185 of 2019, delivered its judgement holding that the said G.Os are found not in conformity with the law, inter alia on the ground that the said G.O. has the effect of forcing the students’ choice without reference to his/her right to choose and the Hon'ble High Court has also found that the SCERT which is the Academic Authority as per RTE Rules 2011 was not involved in the decision making under Section 29(2) of the RTE Act, 2009 leading to the decision.
• 6. While holding so, the Hon'ble High court negatived the contention of the State and observed in their judgement that a child or on his behalf his parent or guardian, has a right to freedom of choice with regard to the medium of instruction in which he would like to be educated at primary stage in the school and not the school Monitoring Committees or Parents Associations.
• 7. Therefore, in the reference 5th read above, Commissioner School education has requested government to permit him to ascertain the choice from Parent / Guardian of the students who studied from Class I to V during the Academic Year 2019-20 with respect to the Medium of Instruction in which they would like their children to pursue their education in the coming Academic Year 2020-21 and vide G.O 6th read above, Government have issued orders to the Commissioner of School Education to ascertain the choice from Parent / Guardian of the students who studied from Class I to V during the Academic Year 2019-20 with respect to the Medium of Instruction in which they would like their children to pursue their Education in the coming Academic Year 2020-21.
• 8. In the reference 7th read above, Commissioner, School Education has reported that as per the orders issued by the Government he has ascertained options from the (17,85,669) Parents/students against (17,87,035) parents/students wherein 96.17 % of the total options were towards English Medium, 3.05 % opted for Telugu Medium and 0.78% opted for other minor media. While informing the above status the Commissioner, School Education has requested the Government for taking further necessary action.
• 9. In compliance of the G.O. 8th read above, orders were issued to the Director, SCERT/ State Academic Authority to furnish their recommendations with regard to the issue of providing Primary Education in English Medium on the touchstone of the parameters under Section 29(2) (a) to (f) the RTE Act, 2009 read with Section 7 of AP Education Act, 1982.
• 10. In the reference 9th read above, the Director, SCERT has submitted the “Recommendations with regard to Primary Education in English Medium” (containing 59 pages ) to the Government and the excerpts from page No. 55 to 58 of the report are reproduced below:

“156. In view of the entire discussion presented so far and with reference to the results of the survey under taken to ascertain the parental choice with regard to the medium of instruction for their children from Classes I to V, SCERT in the capacity of State Academic Authority as defined under section 29(2) of RTE Rules 2011 makes the following recommendations

1. a. The specific objective of attaining irrelapsable literacy in mother tongue including skills of articulation as envisaged under section 7(3) of AP Education Act, 1982 can be achieved irrespective of medium of instruction. Irrelapsable literacy as discussed in the previous chapters can be achieved only by the carefully designated curriculum and classroom transaction which encompasses continuous comprehensive process, overall development of the child. Hence irrelapsable literacy is not directly related to the medium of instruction, rather it is improving student articulation skills in mother tongue by way of teaching the mother tongue language which can be achieved even as a language subject.
2. b. The RTE Act, gives a roadmap on how curriculum should be and what are the aspects to be covered while designing a curriculum. The irrelapsable literacy can be achieved by conforming the curriculum within the framework as mentioned vide section 29(2). A curriculum should emphasize on the values of the constitution, all round development of the child, activity based, child centered learning, making the freedom of expression a reality, and to evaluate child’s understanding continuously and all these to be achieved by using Child’s mother tongue to be used as medium of instruction wherever possible.
3. c. The above description clearly reveals that the curriculum designed in the above manner will cater to the type of learning which will lead the child to excel academically and personally which is nothing but imparting irrelapsable literacy. The main point here is irrelpasable literacy cannot be achieved by just imparting activity-based learning or by evaluation or by using child mother tongue to teach. It cannot be achieved by only one single entity. It’s a continuous and comprehensive process and the irrelapsable literacy can be achieved only by incorporating all the activities mentioned in section 29(2) into the curriculum. Hence it is opined that section 29(2) of RTE Act, 2009 should be read as a whole for the development of the child to achieve irrelapsable literacy. Hence the medium of instruction in mother tongue alone will not cater to irrelapsable literacy. It is a consciously developed curriculum which caters to overall growth of the child which would there by lead to literacy and personality development of the child.
4. d. Evidence based on SSC examinations supports the view that once English medium is introduced in the Government schools there is an increased focus of all stakeholders on the performance of the schools and thus resulting in better academic performance of the children compared to students studying in Telugu medium.
5. e. There is a highly perceptible aspiration among the parents especially those belonging to rural areas, weaker sections and underprivileged for educating their children in English medium as they are able to find out a direct correlation between the medium of instruction and the possibility of better career path and employability for the children who study in English medium schools. Since Government has not met this demand adequately in the past, the parents were forced to admit their children in private schools offering English medium. Thus, education which is a public good has now become a commodity offered for sale in private market.

f. The SCERT has a mandate to recommend to the Government under 29(2) of RTE Rules, 2011 and the aspects as mentioned from (a) to (f) have to be read in toto, and SCERT cannot advice on the medium of instruction on an isolated ground but only by taking all aspects into a comprehensive view. That SCERT has a responsibility to examine whether mother tongue has to be preferred as a medium of instruction or whether English can be recommended if all other objectives are also taken in to view. In the light of various issues examined and after weighing the evidence of performance properly SCERT recommends English as medium of instruction from Class I onwards duly taking in to consideration;

• i. Conformity with the values enshrined in the Constitution;
• ii. All round development of the child;
• iii. Building up child’s knowledge, potentiality and talent;
• iv. Development of physical and mental abilities to the fullest extent;
• v. Learning through activities, discovery and exploration in a child friendly and child-centered manner;
• vi. Making the child free of fear, trauma and anxiety and helping the child vii. to express view freely;
• Comprehensive and continuous evaluation of child’s understanding of knowledge and his/her ability to apply the same; 

157. As recommended above the Government of Andhra Pradesh may introduce English as a medium of instruction in all Government schools from Class I to X in a phased manner. 

158. Wherever the parents of the children studying in primary schools have opted for English medium, action may be taken to introduce English as medium of instruction straight away from 2020-21 onwards. SCERT has already developed text books in all media from Class I to VI and government may issue orders for printing of books and supply to the children studying in those schools.
159. Schools running with Urdu, Tamil, Kannada and Oriya as medium of instruction may be continued without converting them in to English medium as those groups are linguistic minorities in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Instead an option for English medium to run parallelly can be given to such schools. 

160. Since Government have already issued orders that Telugu shall be a compulsory subject for all classes for I to X irrespective of media ( G.O.Ms.No.15 School Education Dept., Dt.22.03.2020), action shall be taken to re structure the text books, re orient the teachers, and to provide workbooks to the children. The text books should reflect the rich literature and cultural values of Telugu language of all the regions in the State and also represent the cultural diversity of the State. Further, Government shall have to enforce teaching of Telugu language as a compulsory subject in all un aided schools also. The un aided schools shall have to be insisted to fill up the posts of Telugu pandits, to allocate required number of instructional hours for teaching Telugu. Further, school libraries have to be strengthened with adequate number of books pertaining to Telugu literature so as to enable the teachers and children to improve their understanding and proficiency in Telugu. 

161. In case of tribal languages appropriate and adequate number of primers, additional learning material and bridge course have to be developed and for all such material English language and Roman script may be used instead of Telugu to enable smooth transition from mother tongue to English. 

162. Improving the teaching learning process and building up of school infrastructure and regular guidance to the parents are essential to ensure that introduction of English as a medium of instruction is successful. 

163. Supporting the students in the form of providing workbooks, school kits, improved text books and nutritious mid-day meal, capacity building of teachers on regular basis with an increased use of ICT platforms and regular meeting with the parent’s committees and sharing the details of students’ progress with them are non-negotiable in this process.”

11. In the reference 10th read above, the Commissioner of School Education, A.P. has reported that he has analyzed the data of parents’ options received from the districts and also examined the recommendations furnished by the Director SCERT/ State Academic Authority and requested the Government to consider introducing English medium from class I to VI in all Government Schools of the School Education Department, PR local bodies, urban bodies and Tribal welfare from 2020- 21 and proposed the following.

• a) In order to protect the Constitutional Rights of the Linguistic minorities as per Article 350 A of the constitution, linguistic minority schools may be allowed to continue as they are. However, if they prefer English medium, they can run parallel English medium sections and they can request for the same which will be processed as per the Rules.
• b) Existing English medium schools run in government, municipal, Mandal and Zilla parishad schools may be continued as they are.
• c) The data reveals that (53,947) out of (17, 97,168) Students from whom the option is collected have opted for Telugu medium. Considering the lack of administrative and economic feasibility for running exclusive Telugu medium schools wherever the children have opted for, and also as per 29(2) (f) provision of RTE Act, and as per orders issued in G.O.Ms.No.15, School Education (Prog.I) Department, dated 22.03.2020, the government may consider the option of setting up one Telugu medium school at each mandal headquarters in all (672) mandals, and provide transportation facility or the cost incurred for transportation to those children that have to travel to reach such Telugu medium schools beyond the limits of the neighborhood. An amount of Rs.6000/- per head (which comes to around Rs.32.0 cr. per annum) may be considered to be met from the State Plan budget during 2020-21.

12. The Commissioner of School education in the reference 10th read above stated that, the report furnished by SCERT has been carefully examined and recommended to the Government to accept the report and to evolve suitable policy framework to take the decision forward. 

13. After careful consideration of the proposal, Government hereby accepts the report of the SCERT and the recommendations of the Commissioner, School Education. However, all further steps in furtherance of implementation of the reports for the academic year 2020-21, shall await and abide by the directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the SLP to be filed by the Government.

Download the GO 24 Copy