Study | Those not from English-medium schools find it tough to cope in college

The study shows that segregation of non-English medium school students from the entire student body is less beneficial for these students.

Students from non-English medium schools who have enrolled in Mumbai colleges under the linguistic minority quota face plenty of difficulties, a study has found. Researchers from Pukar, an independent research collective, have conducted a study to gauge the problems faced by students who have migrated from non-English-medium schools to English-medium colleges.

The study which involves first and second year students from BMC College and its faculty, highlights the difficulties faced by students, not only from the level of English taught in college-level courses, but also from their peers. “Some faculty and peers have the perception that vernacular-medium girls are backward and those who do not know English do not know anything; this does not have a positive effect on them,” says the report.

According to the study, this negative impression of students from non-English medium schools has a harmful impact on their morale, causing these students to stop speaking in English while communicating socially or dissuades them from taking part in verbal extra-curricular events, which further hampers their ability to speak English.

The study also shows that segregation of non-English medium school students from the entire student body is less beneficial for these students.

Source | Economic Times | 3 July 2015