No teachers, plan of English medium Schools fails to take off

AGRA: Owing to unavailability of teachers with an English background, the five Basic Education schools that were supposed to function as English-medium institutions in Agra city this academic session opened on Monday without a change in routine.
In Agra, a total of 80 Basic Education schools (five each in 15 blocks of the district) were to be turned English medium.The schools were supposed to have improved basic amenities and an English-based curriculum.
While English-speaking teachers were hired for 75 such schools, the ones in Agra city, including Primary School Mandi Saiyeed Khan, Sardar Patel at Loha Mandi, the primary schools in Chhipitola, Tedi Bagiya and Rajnagar in Lohamandi locality, didn’t see a single change.
Head teacher Sonia Saluja at Primary School Mandi Saiyyed Khan said, “We do not have any clear instructions on how to go about turning the school into an English medium one. We are not even sure if we are supposed to continue with this school or wait for new staff to join. Till the new system kicks in, we will continue teaching in the existing pattern.”
Vishnu Sharma, a teacher at the primary school in Chhipitola locality said, “I had no idea that our school was to be converted into an English medium one. Teachers at our school will continue teaching according to the old system until we receive new instructions from educational officials.”
According to officials, as posts of teachers with an English background were lying vacant, existing teachers would be asked to continue teaching at the five “English medium” schools. A source from the Basic Education department also indicated that the department might do away with the plan to convert five schools into English medium. Instead, it might pick only one of the schools, Sardar Patel Basic Education School, for the initiative. “So far, around 252 teachers have been hired for the 400 posts that are lying vacant,” he said.
Basic siksha adhikari (BSA) Agra Archana Gupta at first denied that the schools had not been turned English medium. When told TOI had found no changes in the schools in question, she said the delay was due to unavailability of teachers, which would soon be taken care of. “The recruitment process for teachers in on and the schools will function properly after it is completed.”