Description

In 2011, Indian pupils’ proficiency in English was brought out by two international surveys: Education First and PISA. In the former, India (30) ranked below China (29) for that year; and for the latter, India ranked 73 out of a list of 74 countries, ahead only to Afghanistan. English was introduced to India by the British, but English is extremely important in both domestic and international markets given the rapid growth in technology and increasing demand for the service sector. Indian vernaculars have not yet reached a stage where they can take over the functions of English and it is doubtful if the various linguistic groups of India will accept any Indian language ahead of their mother tongue as a pan-Indian language of communication. In my survey I have tried to establish the proficiency level of pupils in English in Jharkhand and West Bengal at the school level.