Delhi govt schools to offer German language course

The Delhi Board of School Education (DBSE) signed an agreement with Goethe Institut on Tuesday for offering German language course to students of Delhi government schools.

”We are committed to providing global exposure to all its students studying in Delhi government schools and giving flight to their dreams. As a part of our programme to introduce a prominent global language in government schools, German is one of the first languages that students will learn,” Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said.

”Learning a global language is not just the acquisition of a skill but also an association with the culture of a particular country. This partnership with Goethe Institut Max Mueller Bhavan will open many new jobs as well as academic opportunities for students of Delhi government schools in future,” said Sisodia, who is also Delhi’s Education Minister, at the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing ceremony.

Appreciating the government for providing an opportunity to the state-run school students to learn global languages, German Ambassador to India Walter J. Lindner said, ”This linguistic partnership with the Delhi government will open new horizons to culture, art, education and many other partnerships in future. Learning German will open routes to job opportunities for Delhi government school students in many EU countries, not just Germany”.

In the pilot phase, the German language will be introduced in 30 schools under the Directorate of Education including Schools of Specialized Excellence (SoSEs). Under this partnership, students will be trained by faculty from Goethe Institut/ Max Mueller Bhavan in communicative German language which will help students strengthen their professional skills and explore a new culture.

”Along with students, Goethe Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan will also train and support teachers and resource persons teaching German language in schools of DoE and gradually enable them to independently take over German language education, with Max Mueller Bhavan playing an advisory role,” said Education Director Himanshu Gupta.

Last year, the German embassy had reached out to the Ministry of Education to explore possible ways to increase German lessons in all Kendriya Vidyalayas noting that the number of students studying the language in KVs has considerably gone down and as a result, over 270 language teachers have been laid off.

The development comes following Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan’s decision two years ago to teach German only outside school.