The number of students opting for English medium schooling is steadily on the rise. Some schools are also closing down their Gujarati section to make way for the changing times. This growing demand for English medium education surfaced when schools started the process of filling of forms for standard X and XII exams to be held in March. From 6,567 schools in Gujarat, 10.62 lakh students in class X, 5.4 lakh in XII (general, and 1.25 lakh in XII (science) students shall appear for their board exams.
“The number of Gujarati medium students has registered a sharp decline. We are closing down Gujarati medium section gradually. Last year, we closed class IV, this year we had just five students in the beginning of academic session in class V and now the number is only 20,” said principal of a city-based school. According to the data of Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSHSEB), there are 57,000 English medium students who shall appear for standard X exam. This is 11,000 more than last year’s number. There are 1,500 English medium schools in the state.
Sr Jennifer, principal, Mount Carmel School, said: “A Gujarati medium student is restricted to this state, while his English medium counterpart can learn or work anywhere. With more and more students planning their higher education abroad, learning the queen’s language is essential.”
Officer on special duty (OSD) of GSHSEB (Vadodara) M M Pathan said: “During the last two to three years, the number of students in English medium schools in standard X is steadily increasing. Correspondingly, the number of schools has jumped from 1,000 to 1,500 in the same period.”
GSHSEB secretary GD Patel said: “In XII general stream this year, we have 27,000 more students compared to the last academic session.”
