Date:13/10/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/13/stories/2008101357390400.htm

New Delhi

IGNOU workshops on communicative English

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: The Indira Gandhi National Open University’s Distance Education Programme -- Sarva Sikshya Abhiyan (DEP-SSA) -- will hold workshops for master trainers, also called resource persons, in communicative English from October 16 till February 18 next year.

At the initiation of the Kerala Government, the DEP-SSA has planned six 10-day workshops for 180 resource persons in batches of 30 members. The orientation programme began on September 30 here at the IGNOU campus. Three of the workshops will be held in Delhi and one each in Hyderabad, Bhubaneshwar and Bangalore.

The DEP-SSA training module has been designed on communicative English for resource persons. The resource persons are assigned to tutor basic teachers and trainers who are responsible for teaching the underprivileged grassroots population in the remote target areas. Project Director Dr. S.S. Jena said: “It is a State-driven pilot project. Other States have also been offered the opportunity.” The workshops are aimed at enhancing the resource persons capacity in communicative English so that they can effectively impart the English language to the trainers and teachers. The module has been enriched from such angles as pronunciation, understanding and articulation of the language.