This whole new move made by the state board’s monthly magazine issues on on September 17, is a final step towards bidding good-bye to the good old act of writing and sending letters! There are chances that class IX students from state schools will now be asked to frame a leave SMS or a condolence message on Whatsapp for their exams. Unbelievable, but true!
One component in the new paper curriculum designed for all second and composite languages including Hindi, Marathi, Gujarathi, etc and composite language like Sanskrit, offered in schools by the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education includes one question on framing instant messages for mobile phones, according to the state board secretary Krishnakumar Patil.
Uday Nare a senior teacher from Hansraj Morarji Public School, and also spokesperson for Shikshak Bharati, a teacher’s organisation said:
“Since it is introduced for Class IX, there are chances of it being carried forward in Class X too. All the new policies are first implemented in Class IX and then in Class X. It is good for students to learn how to frame formal messages on SMS or Whatsapp, but we have not trained students for the October exam.”
Teachers have welcomed the change however, there is slight confusion due to the lack of training. The resource persons will soon conduct training sessions for teachers. Schools will not be able to implement it in the first half of the academic session.
Rohan Bhat, chairman of Children’s Academy Group of Schools, said:
“I think in today’s world of social media it is an important skill to be able to express oneself briefly. No one likes reading long essays. But that can’t be taught in classrooms. If you have command over the language you will be able to do it anyway. So the skill the schools should concentrate on is language development.”
BTW, the 80’s born kid in me just died!
News Source: Times of India
