Amaravati, June 23: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has taken the reforms in the educational sector to the next level by signing MoU with US organization ETS (Educational Testing Service) for improving the communication skills of Government school students from the basic level and preparing them for TOEFL.
As part of the measures being taken to help government school students of class 3 to 10 attain international accent in English and the abilities to face TOEFL, it has signed the agreement with ETS in the presence of the Chief Minister at the Camp Office here on Friday.
The MoU was signed by Lejo Sam Oommen and B. Srinivasa Rao, Project director of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan on behalf of the ETS India and the Government respectively.
Addressing the officials and ETS representatives, the Chief Minister said Government wants its citizens to become globally employable.
“What I request you is that you should put in more empathy and passion in training our students in facing the TOEFL. If we can transform their lives, we would be doing great service not only to their families, but also it could be a service to God as it helps the upliftment of the downtrodden,” he observed.
Stating that the task is no doubt a serious challenge, he asked the ETS representatives not to stop at junior level but take up the training classes at the senior level also gradually as students would try to go abroad generally for taking up undergraduate courses after completing Plus 1 and 2 (Intermediate courses).
Disclosing that almost 30200 class rooms, equalling to 50 per cent of the total class rooms, would be digitized by July end and students above class 6 would be learning through IFPs, the Chief Minister asked them to formulate plans on how to integrate the courses with the curriculum and improve the teaching abilities effectively to take the entire programme forward successfully.
Besides giving Byjus-content loaded tabs to students of class 8, bilingual text books are also being provided to students, he said, suggesting that the Government is making serious efforts to ensure that they become global products equipped with knowledge of emerging and future technologies.
As part of the MoU, ETS will train and conduct preparatory TOEFL examinations to students of classes from 3 to 10.
ETS Senior Director Alain Daumas, who led the delegation, expressed happiness over the MoU.
“This collaboration between the Government and ETS is a testament to the progressive approach the State has taken towards providing students with global opportunities and fostering their academic excellence,” he said, adding that it would help students shine globally
It works as a step forward in improving the quality of education of Government school students in the State, he said, observing that the team of teachers coming to Princeton every year for training would get the best.
He said that the ETS has been extending its services to students in 180 countries and would do its best to train the students in AP.
Education Minister B. Satyanaraana, Principal Secretary (Education) Praveen Prakash, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Project director B. Srinivasa Rao, Midday Meals Director Nidhi Meena, NCERT Director Pratap Reddy and other senior officials were present.
On behalf of the ETS, Rui Ferreira, Associate Vice President of Assessment, Daniel F. Mc Caffrey, Fredric M. Lord Chair of Measurement and Statistics, Amit Kapoor, Co-Founder and Director, Kapil Chanana, Chief Growth Officer, and Rajiv Razdan, Vice President Digital Sales India (Eupheus Learning) were also present.
