11-30-2005, 08:00 AM
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Students perform badly in their mother tongue
The trend is well evident in many States
# A study conducted by Gujarat Board shows nearly 30 per cent of the students taking Gujarati as one of the subjects in Class 10 were failing in the subject
# Students find grammar the most difficult area for answering
# Handwriting of most of the students was not legible
# Students are becoming more conscious about the emerging challenges and are not giving importance to their mother tongue
New Delhi: Students in State Board schools across the country are performing very badly in their mother tongue.
A recent survey conducted by Secondary Education Board (SEB) of Gujarat is a pointer in this direction.
The study shows that Gujarati is losing ground among the students at high school level, a dangerous trend for the language of the State.
The study indicates nearly 30 per cent of the students taking Gujarati as one of the subjects in standard-10 under SEB were failing in the subject.
The study analysed the results of three years from 2002 to 2004. Out of about five lakh students appearing in the Standard-10 exam with Gujarati as a subject, about 150,000 students were failing in the subject.
The Board analysed 1500 answer papers, randomly selected, to find out the areas of weakness of the students.
The exercise revealed that 30 per cent of the students did not attempt questions, while 60 per cent were faulty in content with regard to their answers to prose questions and essays. The handwriting of most of the students was not legible.
Besides, rampant errors were seen in composing various forms of writings. The students were too weak in writing skills committing numerous spelling mistakes, the study found.
Students find grammar the most difficult area for answering.
The analysis found about 18 per cent students did not score a single mark in this segment, while nearly 50 per cent scored between zero to five marks out of the possible total of 12 marks.
"The student's participation in the teaching process has to be ensured. Group discussion and quiz programmes could be arranged to help students get better grip on the subject," the study recommended.
The situation in other states is no different either. In Orissa more than 30 per cent of the students fail in Oriya in the high school examination conducted by Board of Secondary Education (BSE).
Even in South Indian states, West Bengal, Punjab and Maharashtra, this trend is well evident.
Linguist and editor of South Asian Language Review, Prof. Omkar N. Kaul says that now students attach more importance to English than their mother tongue.
"It is a bad trend. The State Boards are also responsible for this, as most of the boards have introduced English from an early stage - starting from Class I or II in many States,'' he says. "Mother tongue helps for concept formation and understanding," he says. "Students are becoming more conscious about the emerging challenges and are not giving importance to their mother tongue," says Dr Veena Bhalla of Association of Indian Universities. -- PTI
Students perform badly in their mother tongue
The trend is well evident in many States
# A study conducted by Gujarat Board shows nearly 30 per cent of the students taking Gujarati as one of the subjects in Class 10 were failing in the subject
# Students find grammar the most difficult area for answering
# Handwriting of most of the students was not legible
# Students are becoming more conscious about the emerging challenges and are not giving importance to their mother tongue
New Delhi: Students in State Board schools across the country are performing very badly in their mother tongue.
A recent survey conducted by Secondary Education Board (SEB) of Gujarat is a pointer in this direction.
The study shows that Gujarati is losing ground among the students at high school level, a dangerous trend for the language of the State.
The study indicates nearly 30 per cent of the students taking Gujarati as one of the subjects in standard-10 under SEB were failing in the subject.
The study analysed the results of three years from 2002 to 2004. Out of about five lakh students appearing in the Standard-10 exam with Gujarati as a subject, about 150,000 students were failing in the subject.
The Board analysed 1500 answer papers, randomly selected, to find out the areas of weakness of the students.
The exercise revealed that 30 per cent of the students did not attempt questions, while 60 per cent were faulty in content with regard to their answers to prose questions and essays. The handwriting of most of the students was not legible.
Besides, rampant errors were seen in composing various forms of writings. The students were too weak in writing skills committing numerous spelling mistakes, the study found.
Students find grammar the most difficult area for answering.
The analysis found about 18 per cent students did not score a single mark in this segment, while nearly 50 per cent scored between zero to five marks out of the possible total of 12 marks.
"The student's participation in the teaching process has to be ensured. Group discussion and quiz programmes could be arranged to help students get better grip on the subject," the study recommended.
The situation in other states is no different either. In Orissa more than 30 per cent of the students fail in Oriya in the high school examination conducted by Board of Secondary Education (BSE).
Even in South Indian states, West Bengal, Punjab and Maharashtra, this trend is well evident.
Linguist and editor of South Asian Language Review, Prof. Omkar N. Kaul says that now students attach more importance to English than their mother tongue.
"It is a bad trend. The State Boards are also responsible for this, as most of the boards have introduced English from an early stage - starting from Class I or II in many States,'' he says. "Mother tongue helps for concept formation and understanding," he says. "Students are becoming more conscious about the emerging challenges and are not giving importance to their mother tongue," says Dr Veena Bhalla of Association of Indian Universities. -- PTI