NEW DELHI: The Delhi government will start a free spoken English course for people in the age-group of 18-35, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced at a press conference on Saturday. Delhi Skills and Entrepreneurship University will be running this course.
Though it is a free course, Rs 950 will be taken as a security deposit during enrolment just to ensure that the students attend the classes and complete the course. The course will be open to those who have cleared Class VIII and possess basic English knowledge.
Kejriwal said, “This course will be of the highest international standards. We are tying up with Macmillan and Wordsworth. Cambridge University will assess the entire course. We’ve noticed how the youth of the poor, lower middle class and middle class families first face difficulties in speaking English and then in securing jobs due to it. Delhi’s youth will significantly benefit from this course.”
Those who are already working can attend evening and weekend classes.
“We will train one lakh such youths in spoken English in the first year in phase one. 50 centres will be opened initially all over Delhi. It is our dream to provide good education to all the children of the country, underprivileged children should not face any shortage in any way. This course is a big step in that direction,” said the CM.
Kejriwal expressed hope that after pursuing this course, the youth would turn into confident individuals. “Delhi is witnessing a revolution in the education sector and the children belonging to poor families now get an excellent education. We have a clear vision to ensure that they are at par with the children who have the resources to get a good education,” he added.
The course will be for 3-4 months duration covering 120-140 hours. The number of centres will be increased in the second phase.
“We are anticipating that there will be a huge number of applications for the programme, which will surpass the number of seats easily. We want to weed out non-serious students who will attend the classes just for 2-3 days and then leave,” Kejriwal said.
