Students and faculty should converse in English on campuses: Minister

Higher Education Minister M.C. Sudhakar insisted that students and faculty members of higher educational institutions converse in English while on college and university campuses.

“English is the medium of instruction in higher education, but not many people speak English on college and university campuses,” he observed. He advised teaching faculty to converse in English during class hours. “If we want to bring about change in the institutions, then teachers should speak in English first. Learning English will increase self-confidence among the students,” he added.

He was speaking after signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the British Council and Microsoft to expand the English Skills for Youth programme on Tuesday. 

From experience

Sharing his experience from his time as a faculty member at a dental college, Dr. Sudhakar said, “When I was a faculty member in a private dental college, we used to speak primarily in English on campus, and the confidence level was very high. However, after entering public life, I began speaking only in Kannada or other regional languages. As a result, it became difficult to speak spontaneously in English at various public fora, and my fluency declined”.

Reaffirming his respect for Kannada, he said the more you try to speak a language, the better you can learn it. You can work on improving your vocabulary, and acquiring proficiency in English is necessary. “Making a mistake while speaking in English doesn’t matter,” he said, pointing to the practice in many private schools where students are penalised for speaking in any language other than English.

Highlighting how key English language skills are in the job market, he said even if a student is a rank holder, if he or she is not able to converse in good English, it could hinder their job prospects. He said English was a key factor in the hospitality and Information Technology (IT) sectors, apart from several others. 

MoU for English skills

The English Skills for Youth programme is already running in 16 government engineering colleges, in 54 degree and polytechnic colleges, covering 9,500 students. The MoU signed on Tuesday will expand this to other government colleges as well.

This scheme mainly aims to enhance employability skills among students. The expansion significantly broadens the programme’s reach, enabling students to access high-quality learning resources, digital tools, and structured English practice opportunities through English practice clubs.