More than 20 million children in 22,000 government schools in Gujarat were to benefit from the then Narendra Modi government’s 2009 English language scheme through the Educational Satellite of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).

Emphasising that English was needed if Gujarat wanted to emerge as a global power, Modi had brushed aside all resistance from the education wing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and had gone ahead with the scheme.

A Rs 600-crore project was evolved to provide 42-inch LCD or plasma screen TV sets to directly telecast English lessons by the teachers from Gandhinagar-based Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space Application and Geo-informatics (BISAG).

A Rs 600-crore project was initiated to provide LCD or plasma screen TV sets to directly telecast English lessons by teachers across the state

At the beginning of the scheme, some 5,000 schools got widescreen TV sets, while the rest were to be provided soon.

The government had launched SCOPE (The Society for Creation of Opportunity through Proficiency in English) programmes to promote the Queen’s language among Gujaratis.

“Over two lakh students have acquired proficiency in English so far through this initiative,” Modi’s website had declared, buttressing that English speaking was a “requirement of a Gujarati student”.

But the bubble soon burst.

Figures show that only about 9.8 per cent of Class V students in rural parts of Gujarat can read English, which has been found to be the lowest among all major states in the country.

Madhya Pradesh is lower than Gujarat but by only 0.2 per cent.

According to numbers released by non-government organisation Pratham, the national average is 24 per cent and Kerala leads with as much as 68.5 per cent proficiency.

The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) by Pratham has found that a little over 26 per cent of Class VII children in rural Gujarat could read English properly.

The national average is 38.8 per cent.

Only two states, Chhattisgarh with 21.5 per cent and Madhya Pradesh with 18.3 are poorer than Gujarat.

Kerala again ranks at the top with 80 per cent on this score.

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