The Andhra Pradesh government and Princeton-based Educational Testing Service (ETS) have signed an agreement to provide personalized English assessments to government school students. According to an official statement, the alliance aims to strengthen the English language skills of lakhs of students, which could help enhance academic achievement.
Under the five-year deal, ETS will evaluate and certify English language proficiency in students from classes 3 to 10 across all government schools through the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) Young Students Series assessments.
Praveen Prakash, Principal Secretary of School Education, said this initiative aimed to enhance students’ listening and speaking skills and prepare them for the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) exam. He also informed that all government schools must conduct daily TOEFL classes for students in Classes 3 to 9.
TOEFL Primary and TOEFL Junior standard tests will be deployed to assess English reading and listening skills in classes 3 to 5 and 6 to 9, respectively. At the same time, the TOEFL Junior Speaking Test will determine the English speaking skills of 10th standard students. As most students are first-generation English learners, the customized tests will assess their readiness to take certification tests.
“We hope that students from government institutions will bag top jobs globally. We are working towards that goal,” Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy said in the release. He said the “noble initiative” aims to make a profound societal impact and revolutionize education in the state to pave the way for a brighter future.
Prakash further stated that these classes should prioritize the development of students listening and speaking skills. The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) has provided schools with audio-visual (AV) content to support teachers in conducting the TOEFL classes, and this material should be actively used in classrooms.
ETS country manager Sachin Jain India mentioned that the emphasis on the English language at a very young age in the state would better prepare students for long-term success. It noted that he had seen firsthand the power of English as a gateway to global opportunities.
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