Tamil Nadu - Chennai

German courses likely in schools

CHENNAI: The opportunity to learn German could soon be available for students of government, aided institutions and Corporation schools, if the ongoing negotiations between Goethe Institut, Chennai, and the Education Department bear fruit.

On Wednesday, Jerome Rajan, faculty, Goethe Institut, told delegates gathered to celebrate the German Language Day that Education Department officials were keen on making learning German more accessible at school.

In fact, the Department saw a bigger role for German as an added foreign language, they said. If the negotiations bore fruit, German could be part of the curriculum from Std.VI to Plus-Two, at least from the next academic year, he said.

Institut director Gabriele Landwehr told The Hindu that the international German language programme, supported by the German Foreign Office and supervised by the Foreign Minister, was aimed at connecting schools globally and helping youth have a chance to take part in the youth camp held in Germany every year.

Puneet Kaur, coordinator, Schools-Partners for the Future, Goethe Institut, Delhi, said that at the national level, negotiations were on with various school boards to include German as a language in the curriculum. A new and enriched German language curriculum was being developed to replace the outdated and uninteresting version.

The Central Board of Secondary Education, one of the most “foreign language-friendly” school education boards, was likely to get the proposal for German in the curriculum approved by its committees shortly, Ms. Kaur said.

Negotiations had also been launched with the ICSE that, by custom, did not allow Indian students to choose a foreign language unless the candidate held a foreign passport or was an NRI, Ms. Kaur said. Closer networking with Kendriya Vidyalayas, which now refused to look beyond the three languages, was also proposed to broad-base access to learning German in non-private schools, she said.

Goethe Institut had launched a Delhi Public Schools Project that sought to generate a teacher base for smaller cities. The Institut gave teachers training in several modules spread over two years, including a stint in Germany, she said.

Aditi Gosavi, DAAD regional office, Delhi, gave an overview of higher education opportunities in Germany, the birthplace of 76 Nobel Laureates. Germany scored high on every possible count that a student could wish for—teaching and research excellence, affordability and safety. In fact, one in every 10 students in Germany was a foreigner, reflecting a ratio of 10 per cent that was higher than what prevailed in the U.S., she said.

The German Language Day celebrations were supported by the German Consulate and Swiss Embassy, the Cultural Department of the Austrian Embassy, Austrian Cultural Forum, Delhi, and DAAD.

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