Hyderabad schools on global search for expert teachers The city may boast of swanky schools with international tags, but school authorities are clearly unhappy with the lack of expertise among local teachers which has got them to bring on board teachers from foreign countries. Several city schools have roped in teachers from France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain and other countries on their faculty list, with many saying that students here, despite their talent and high levels of intelligence, lack the global touch . The problem, they say, is most glaring in the case of foreign languages. A language cannot be taught only by reading and writing the script, which is the focus in most institutes. When I joined the school four years ago, the students here fared poorly in pronunciation and usage of words possibly because of the teaching style, said Dr Sophie Peralba, French teacher and middle school coordinator at Indus International. Peralba also said that students then had no awareness about the French culture and the country, an integral part of learning a foreign language. Celine Ganier, French national and former teacher at Sancta Maria International School at Serilingampally, said that parents want her to give home tuitions in French to even two year-old toddlers as they want their child to pick up the language from a genuine French teacher. Correct accent is important Parents in Hyderabad are very particular about academics and language is an important part of any school curriculum. They want their kids to pick up the right aspects of the language from a young age itself, said Ganier, who home tutors 13 children aged between 2 and 11 years. Monetary incentive for these teachers is a fair bit as according to the visa norms of the Indian government , English teachers have to be earning at least $ 25,000 per annum to be eligible for a visa, an amount that schools are willing to shell out if it means their students get the edge. Some school management officials said that many of the local teachers cannot even draft an official letter in English without marring it with grammatical errors. Recognizing this lacuna in the teaching standards, some schools are also getting their international imports to train the local teaching staff. Like British national Ron Wojick , who apart from teaching the students at the Jubilee Hills Public School (JHPS), also takes sessions for the teachers in communications . The school also has a US national , teaching theatre for the past one year. Children here are smart but they need to brush up on their accents , if they have to be accepted in the global market. Even if a students academic credentials arent great, good communication skills can help in fetching a good job, said Wojick, who trains the children on their diction and phonetics. Taken by this emerging trend, several schools said that they were open to the idea of getting foreign teachers on board. Apart from the cross culture interaction , students will possibly be more open towards a foreign teacher . We would definitely consider getting such teachers as part of faculty , said Ramandeep Kaur Samra, principal, Hyderabad Public School, Ramanthapur. There is an obvious difference in quality when an Indian teaches Spanish or French as compared to a local from these countries. The purpose is to prepare the students for the world outside India, said a chairman of a top city school, who did not wish to be named.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 08:59:55 +0000
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