Transforming rural landscape through English teaching in Qila Raipur - 02/10/2010

QILA RAIPUR (LUDHIANA), October 2: There is a subtle and consistent change going on in the rural landscape of Ludhiana where scores of students with not much exposure to English are getting familiar with the language thanks to the local MLA, Jassi Khangura an ex-British citizen who has taken it upon himself to train these students. Khangura, a Congress MLA himself, however makes it clear that no partisan considerations are made while choosing the students who opt for the spcialised IELTS course conducted by a team of English experts led by a British teacher, Steven Vincent.

Today 234 students drawn from different villages completed the course, speaking fluent English with great convenience and confidence. “The purpose of the course is not to train students only for making them eligible to go abroad, but to develop their personality and overall confidence”, Khangura told a group of visiting reporters. He pointed out, the level of confidence among the rural students is relatively low than those from the urban areas. “We are trying to bridge that gap”, he said, while adding, the course had indeed helped to create a large pool of students who are not only now trained in English but confident enough to handle any job they are suited for.

Khangura attended the concluding function with hundreds of students who had attended the free IELTS course at Latala, which had been arranged by his office.  The students and their families had been invited to spend the day at Latala Farm House to give performances and to celebrate their achievements.

Steven Vincent the course teacher from the UK has, in total, spent almost a year volunteering for the programme. Khangura said "Steven's teaching has been completely invaluable. Not only has he taught English but has taught confidence to so many village youngsters."

He said, the most impressive thing has been the huge effort so many of these youngsters have put in, traveling from villages far and wide to attend these classes or to help run them. Of the 45 girls recently selected by the Sankara Eye Foundation for training in Coimbatore, 7 came from Steven's classes. This, and other jobs secured by Steven's students, shows exactly why this course is worthwhile.

Steven Vincent, who has dedicated so much time to Qila Raipur's villages, said "It has been a fantastic thing to do. Seeing the change in these students has made it all so worthwhile. I'm glad Jassi set up this course. He provided the space, resources and his backing to make it happen and the results really show."

The course was offered via notices in villages in the Qila Raipur area. Students were invited to attend and sign up for the course. Sheer volume of students saw the planned 3 classes a day expand to 6 a day, 6 days a week just to ensure everyone got a chance to study. Steven Vincent also said "we'd expected a fairly high drop out rate, but it just didn't happen. Through a heavy monsoon and soaring temperatures, the students came, day after day. No-where in the world have I seen such desire to learn.