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Bihar Government launches radio programme to teach English to students

Patna: In a bid to make learning English language interesting and interactive, Bihar Government has launched an ambitious radio programme to teach the language to students of classes I and II in all state-run primary schools.

Under the scheme called ‘English is Fun’, the students would learn spoken English and simple grammar through over 50 songs played on the programme to be aired on radio, Rajesh Bhushan, Director of Bihar Education Project said.

More than 61.73 lakh students in 37 out of state’s 38 districts have been covered under the scheme.

The students would listen to the programme at a specific time during school hours. Fifty three episodes of the interactive radio instruction (IRI) programme have already been broadcast and 122 new episodes would be aired four days a week from April 15.

The BEP has provided the radio sets to the schools at a cost of Rs.1,000 per set and was also paying the broadcast fee to the All India Radio.

Mr. Bhushan, also Secretary of Information and Public Relations Department, said the project was launched late last year at a cost of Rs.4 crore in collaboration with the Education Development Centre (EDC), a non-profit NGO and US Agency for International Development (USAID).

The USAID has funded the technology tools for teaching and training programme to support and complement the move taken under Savra Sikhsa Abhiyan to boost primary education.

Mr. Bhushan said the real challenge in ensuring universal and quality primary education in India, particularly in Bihar, lay in addressing issues like non-interactive teaching and learning, large size of classes, diverse socio-economic and linguistic backgrounds of children and teachers.- PTI

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Bihar Government launches radio programme to teach English to students

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