KVs in city to continue German as a ‘hobby’ or additional subject

Jayashri Wishvekar, principal of KV school at Ambernath, said: “We went to each class and asked students whether they want to opt for German as an additional or hobby subject as they will have to study Sanskrit as a third language. We prepared a report and have submitted it to the KV Sanghatana and have sought their suggestion. Many students in our school have decided to opt for German as an additional subject. We have started teaching Sanskrit and I am sure our teachers will manage to complete the syllabus on time. Also, the syllabus of Sanskrit is not very huge.”

P Selvaraj, principal of KV No 1 at Colaba, said, “The Sanskrit that will be taught to these students will be of the beginners’ level. We have already announced that German will be offered as an additional subject and will not be evaluated. We will see to it that students are not inconvenienced due to this mid of the year change.”

Several parents said the change could have been introduced in the beginning of the academic year. Considering the difficulties that students of classes VI, VII and VIII will face due to this mid-session policy change, MHRD and KV Sanghatana are looking at adding Sanskrit as a third language in the curriculum in a phased manner, that is, from first term of class VI. Accordingly, the grades obtained by the students in German or any other foreign language for the first term from classes VI-VIII would be considered for compiling the final result.

“One thing that has been made clear is that German or any other foreign language will not be taught as a third language as an option against Sanskrit. As of now, schools under the Mumbai region will start teaching Sanskrit as a third language as they will have to complete the syllabus for those students who will now have to opt for the subject in the middle of the year. We will issue a circular as soon as we receive instructions from MHRD,” said a senior official of KVS Mumbai region.

The official added, “None of our schools are sacking their German teachers as the language would be offered as additional subject for now.”

dipti.singh@expressindia.com