With the commencement of the new academic year 2021-22, the Andhra Pradesh government has announced to make English the medium of learning at all the degree colleges across the state.
The Andhra Pradesh Education Minister, Audimulapu Suresh, stated that the Department of Higher Education had taken this decision of introducing English as a medium of education at the undergraduate level as it would enhance the career prospects of graduates.
In September 2019, the Andhra Pradesh government had announced that it would introduce English as the medium of instruction in all the government schools, and gradually convert all the Telugu-medium schools to English-medium schools. However, the schools will still continue to teach mother tongue Telugu as a mandatory subject.
The AP government in January had partnered with the University of Cambridge to train teachers and students to develop English proficiency.
Out of the total 2.62 lakh students who have taken admissions in degree colleges across AP in the year 2020-21, around 65,981 are in Telugu-medium institutes.
Of these 65,981 Telugu-medium students, 24,007 students are pursuing a BA, while 16,925 students are pursuing BCom and the remaining 24,960 students are pursuing BSc courses. The Education Minister said that the decision to make English language of instruction is bound to immensely benefit the students.
Officials said that the data they collected indicates that BA students get placed in jobs in the sales and marketing sector, journalism and research, and proficiency in English would thus enhance their skills.
Keeping in mind the fact that several companies have started to prefer candidates who are multilingual and emphasizes English during their recruitment process, thus it is essential that the students pursue their under graduation (UG) in English medium, an official said.
The officials at the Education Department said that the public sector recruitment through UPSC, APPSC, SSC, BSRB also tests language proficiency. Since the 4th year of the UG curriculum is based on research orientation, it would be difficult for students to pursue quality work in PhD if the UG is studied in Telugu medium, officials added.
Further, the officials stated that the transition from Telugu medium in Intermediate to English medium in Degree would be easier when compared to the transition from Telugu medium in Degree to English Medium in Post-Graduation. Studying market-oriented programs in Degree in Telugu Medium is difficult as the reference material is available in English.
The Department of Higher Education has also introduced life skill courses such as personality development and leadership and human values and professional ethics to facilitate a smooth transition. All the students must mandatorily select at least one skill course in the first two semesters and two in the third. The curriculum has been revised thoroughly with effect from 2020-21 with a compulsory internship for 10 months and 30% of the revised curriculum consists of skill-oriented programs.
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