English for School Children

[ ]Letters to the Editor by e-mail to:
kochi@epmltd.com
{subject}begin Q:should 'english' go?yes or no?[ ];i say "no";retain 'english' and please make with
'english' an optional offering('malayalam'or'sanscrit'or'hindi'). end{subject}
reference-The New Indian Express Kochi 5
Wednesday , June6 , 2007 STATE
'SCERT prepares curriculum framework for Plus-II'
English to be made optional subject
By SABLOO THOMAS .

Dear Sir:

The 'State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT)' is suggesting that if a student
opts for Malayalum , he/she will have to forget about English and vice versa. my question
here sir is_
Q:is 'language' merely functional or fundamentally , deeply more comprehensive ?
( dic_ comprehensive adj : covering a matter under consideration completely or nearly completely )
The report by SABLOO goes on to say that if a student wants to study a third language like Hindi or
French { my qustion here sir is Q: why not English also here at least ? } he/she should sacrifice
any of the papers within a subject combination { Remark: the 'subject combination' sadly is not
defined above but below this point of reference } . my question here sir is:
Q:can't you keep the concerns of various subject combinations seperate from the concern of edu-
-cating the children in a language ?
The report by SABLOO goes on to say that apart from the subjects included in the subject combination
and the language , the student should also opt for a fifth subject from among < a 'cornucopia' of
'academic' learning is named > various subjects including computer science , various world-languages
and even philosophy { my question here sir is: > Q: what is 'philosophy' ? < } and home science,
foreign languages { Remark: misguided lot - these people at the State Council of Educational
Research and Training ( SCERT ) ! } and vocational education.
The report by SABLOO goes on to say that a student opting for science combination can opt for
computer applications. { my question here sir is Q: is ' science combination ' an instance of
' subject combination ' ?[ ] - it is not clear ! }
The report by SABLOO goes on to say that the students will
have to spend { Remark: was the Indian Ex-
-press 'spent' a printer's devil? ... please ... } 25 hours for study in five working days in a week
with five hours for each subject. { my question here is Q: is 'subject combination' implied
here ? There are 5 of them i notice.25 / 5 = 5 combination> , I guess {!} }
The report by SABLOO goes on to say that the sixth working day {{ ... Q: they , the poor children ,
are made to work 6 days a week ? 5 working days are not enough ? who decided that ? .. give them
some ' space ' please .. ; they have a lot of growing up to attend to after they come out of
their { dic_ 'their' adj : associated or connected with them < ~ neighbors > ; } mothers'
woumbs ; they do it on their own ; let the society leave them ALONE which incidentally
comes from ' all + one ' ; ... }} will be set apart for
the study of a job skill or an art event { Remark: the stop here in SABLOO report is put at @ }

>stupid< i say ; i have nothing more to add !

. { @ }
The report by SABLOO goes on to say that training in these subjects are to be undertaken in a
recognized employment center or from a local guru.
Get rid of these stupid gurus - listen to Jiddu Krishnamurti , for God's sake !
The report by SABLOO goes on to say that the job skills recognized included ... draftman ship,
ariculture, dairy, horticulture, plumbing ... Q: are you < the S C E R T > programming
the children ? .. who gives you the authority to do so ? ( . if i may ask . ) .. ,fisheries,
agriculture, electrician work, electronics { Q: who decides the complete list of job skills ? }
and mobile repairing > poor children < , laboratory technician { Q: is this a subject or the lable
attached to an occupation ? ... be very careful ... please ... } , community work { ... pch! ... }
, carpentry, hotel management ... God ! please help ... ,catering , cooking ,masonry and
sculpture . { Q: who the devil are you to teach them sculptur{e}ing > your mistake damn you ! < ? }

{subject}begin Q:should 'english' go?yes or no?[ ];i say "no";retain 'english' and please make with
'english' an optional offering('malayalam'or'sanscrit'or'hindi'). {elaboration}begin

'hindi' is just one of the regional languages of the Republic of India . imposing it on the chidren
of other regions of the Republic of India in the name of 'Nationalism' , which is irrelevent
in the days of 'Globalization' , is to follow a fundamentally unethical idea of patriotism .
{ Remark: on second thoughts , this is questionable - i go on ,however, to expose my
thinking - please let me learn about your thinking on this IMPORTANT matter about
patriotism and nationalism while i go on } . GIVE IT UP ! . ( . this attachment to
the idea of a 'national language' ; we don't have one . ) the chidren may learn
any language they like including 'hindi'

end{elaboration}
end{subject}

AIDSO { Q: what is this , The New Indian Express ? } state president M.Shajer Khan told Express
that if the curriculum framework was implimented it would reduce Higher Secondary education from
academic learning to mere vocational training. Thank God ! There is someone with right perception
Q: who is 'AIDSO' state president M.Shajer Khan ? how can we get in touch with him ,
the New Indian Express , please ?

( Krishna R. PUTCHA )