KV students can still study German as 'additional' subject

New Delhi, Nov 20: Days after directing replacement of German with Sanskrit as third language, the government has said the students wanting to study this foreign language can still do so as an "additional" subject and has decided to continue with services of teachers hired for teaching it.

The order has also been issued by which the grades obtained by students of Class VI to VIII in German as a third language so far would be considered in the compilation of the overall annual assessment of the third language. "...it is hereby clarified that the teaching of German (Foreign) language will be continued for those students of classes VI to VIII who were studying German language and opt for continuing the study of German language as an additional subject or as a hobby class.

"Therefore, the services of teachers recruited on a contractual basis for teaching of German must be continued as per the existing terms and conditions," said a circular issued to the KVs two days back. [KVs to drop German language course over Sanskrit]

The HRD Ministry had last week decided to replace German with Sanskrit as the third language in the KVs, arguing that the existing arrangement was against the three-language formula and "violated" the national policy on education.

Another circular has issued and it said that "to facilitate the children to learn the third language, it has been decided .. that this third language will be taught for such children with the syllabus of the first term of Class VI, even for those children in Class VII or VIII who had taken German as the third language, so that the teaching learning starts for them right from the beginning and no stress is caused to them."

This circular came as it was "felt necessary to issue clear instructions about how the third language would be taught to the students of classes VI to VIII that had been studying German language till now".

The circular went on to add, "To further facilitate these The circular went on to add, "To further facilitate these children, the grades obtained by these students for the earlier term of learning German as a third language would be considered for finalising the compilation of results for their totals in the third language," it said.

The decision of the ministry to replace German with Sanskrit has affected close to 68,000 students between class VI to VIII. The third and the fourth formative assessment scheduled to start shortly will now not be held for these students, and their assessment and examination schedule will be intimated subsequently, the communication said.

Formative Assessment, introduced within the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation Framework, is a tool used by the teacher to monitor student progress continuously. HRD Minister Smriti Irani had said that "an investigation" has already been launched into the signing of the MoU in 2011 enabling German being taught as a third language.

PTI