'Enriching Schools with New Resources'

Enhance English skills to face global challenges

Say educationists

28 June 2010, 18:00 PM

Staff Correspondent, Ctg

Vice Chancellor of Premier University Prof Dr Anupam Sen speaks at the concluding ceremony of a programme titled 'Enriching Schools with New Resources' in Chittagong Collegiate School yesterday.Photo: STAR

Students must learn English properly to successfully compete in the present era of globalisation, educationists said at the concluding ceremony of a programme titled 'Enriching Schools with New Resources' in Chittagong yesterday. The programme was initiated under the 'English in Schools' (EIS) programme, a joint initiative taken by The Daily Star and Robi, a mobile operator, to improve English language skills of the secondary school students throughout the country. Over one thousand students joined the programme at the Chittagong Collegiate School. Addressing the ceremony, Vice Chancellor of Premier University Prof Dr Anupam Sen said English is spoken by one billion people in the world and it is the language of world commerce. He underscored the need for mastering the four skills of English language -- listening, speaking, reading and writing -- through proper practices. He also urged the students to give first priority to learning their mother language properly. Prof Sen also observed that faulty method of teaching the language at school level is the main reason behind poor English skills among the students. Prof Muhammad Abu Zafar Chowdhury, chairman of the Chittagong Education Board, hoped that the EIS programme would surely help the school students improve their proficiency in speaking as well as writing English. Thanking the organisers for providing copies of The Daily Star to 1,000 schools free of cost, Prof Zafar said students of most academic institutions in the country do not get scopes to read any English newspapers. He also hoped that such initiative would encourage the students to come forward to learn English properly. Michael Kuehner, managing director and chief executive officer of Robi, said the programme would be helpful for the students in building their professional career, as the global economy and the computer technology are very much based on English. He also assured that all-out support would be extended to expand the programme. Shahnoor Wahid, editor of the Star Campus, said students would benefit greatly from the guidelines in the EIS page of The Daily Star. The EIS page is published every Monday. He also urged the students to read English magazines and storybooks regularly to develop English skills. Speaking on the occasion, Headmaster of Collegiate School Muhammad Aziz Uddin proposed that the organisers should lunch a programme under EIS to train the English teachers so that they could help the students in a better way. Head of Communications and Media Relations of Robi Mohiuddin Babar also spoke. The 'Enriching Schools with New Resources' under the EIS programme began in Khulna on May 28. The EIS is the country's largest CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) programme.