HYDERABAD: Owing to the craze for foreign languages and a few additional marks to obtain a healthy marks sheet, Intermediate students are ending up paying high amounts.

Institutes offering foreign languages are now in demand what with Intermediate examinations fast approaching and they are charging quite a good sum to teach the language. Depending on the grasping ability, the students are paying tuition fee ranging from Rs. 2,000 to Rs. 5,000 to clear the all-important annual examinations.

Alliance Francaise, the French cultural centre in the city, is offering a 10-hour package that costs Rs. 1,900. It runs special classes for Intermediate students with French as second language and the tuition is totally examination oriented. "Students come as per their convenience and we cover the entire syllabus. Students specifically ask for exam oriented coaching," says Manisha Kumar, academic head, Alliance Francaise. "Some students come with zero knowledge of the language," she says adding that a lot of students genuinely interested in the language take the 100 hours package offered throughout the year. A few students also approach them just for clarifications. Students also approach private teachers known to them. Teachers say with the concentration on EAMCET, colleges totally ignore teaching of second languages, including Sanskrit. As exams approach, students rush to private centres for assistance. Lack of good faculty at the colleges is also a reason. "Students opt for foreign languages for two reasons. To learn them and also they are sure of scoring good marks compared to Telugu or Hindi. Similar is the case with Sanskrit. Language marks do have an impact on topper's list," says the principal of a corporate college. Students too agree. "We never prepare for second language papers throughout the year. It is easy to approach private centres where teaching is goodthough they charge a bit high. But scoring in these papers is easy," points out Neelima, a second year student. Those opting for Sanskrit are relatively better because it is easily grasped and the questions can also be answered in English or Telugu. According to Board of Intermediate Education (BIE) Secretary R.P. Sisodia, a number of people opting for foreign languages are less than three per cent of the total 7.4 lakhs who appear for the examinations. However, it is significantly high in terms of numbers, which are around 10,000 to 15,000.

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