1. Demand for English Teachers:
   1. The demand for English Teachers arises from teaching needs of
   1. Languages schools – reading, writing & speaking English
   2. Business Language schools.
   3. Programmes of English for Specific Purposes – e.g. Tourism Sector
   4. Corporate Sector – Managers & Executives
   5. Adult education programmes
   6. Overseas Institutions (overseas teaching assignments) and
   7. Distance learning programmes and E-learning programmes; including
   2. Details of the number of educational institutions in India in 1996-97 and 1997-98 according to the Ministry of Human Resources Development are given below:
       
      Number of Selected Types of Educational Institutions
      

      Type of Institutions	Number of Institutions		Increase
      	1996-97*	1997-98*
      a) Pre-primary Schools	38553	41788	3235
      b) Primary School	598354	610763	12409
      c) Middle Schools	176772	185506	8734
      d) High Schools	73127	76230	3103
      e) Hr. Sec. Schools (New pattern)	25045	26491	1446
      f) Inter/Jr./Pre Degree College	4011	7379	368
      g) Art, Science and Commerce College	6579	7199	440
      h) Engg./Tech. Colleges (Degree & above level)	418	458	40
      i) Medical Colleges (Allopathy/Ayurvedic)	655	769	114
      j) Teacher Training Colleges	697	848	151
      k) Polytechnics	1029	1051	22
      l) Universities*	228	229	1

      
      * Includes Deemed Universities and Institutions of National Importance.
      The selected types of educational institutions increased by 30060 (3%) in 1997-98 as compared to 1997-98.
   3. The London chamber of Commerce and Industry Examination Board conducts examinations for the following Business English and English for Specific Purpose programmes:
      1. English for Business
      2. Spoken English for Industry and Commerce
      3. Written English for Tourism
      4. English for Industry
      5. Practical Business English
      6. English for Commerce
      7. Foundation Certificate for Teachers of Business English.

   4. There is a growing demand for professional and amateur English teachers in virtually every non-English speaking country. Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea and Singapore have all become economic giants in the last two decades, but have few natural resources and must focus on international trade for continued success. The other countries which need English teachers include : China, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Latin America, Eastern European and African countries.

   5. Japan has the largest demand for English language teachers in the world with thousands of schools and corporations hiring English speaking foreigners for more than ten million students of all ages who study conversational English. There are now about 7,000 foreign English teachers in Japan.

   6. Germany which until recently transacted its business in German, is now encouraging all managers and executives, including chief executives, to become proficient in English by attending English Language Schools.

   7. Due to increasing number of students, reduced class size, and shorter working weeks in many countries, the demand for English teachers is growing fast.

   8. The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) under the World Trade Organization (WTO) provides for free movement of professionals among the 142 member countries. These provisions are going to be fully operational in the next five years and are likely to generate many opportunities for English teachers.

   9. The WTO's rules facilitate free trade in goods and services among its member countries, and this has encouraged many countries to adopt a policy of globalization exporting and importing goods and services purely on considerations of comparative most advantages. As English is the main language of international business, the demand for English teachers is also expected to increase with more and more countries entering the international trade actively.

   10. A number of institutes specializing in spoken English have mushroomed in India, particularly in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad as a result of demand from IT personnel seeking assignments within and outside the country. The other categories of candidates seeking spoken English training in India are those seeking admissions in engineering, management and other professional subjects.

2. Availability of English Teachers:

1. The source of supply of qualified English Teachers in India are the colleges and universities which offer English as a special subject. English language and literature is taught in about 130 registered universities and in other Government and semi-Government organizations in the country.

2. An interesting feature is that many of those who study English languages and literature do not take up teaching jobs - at least half of them seek other opportunities. Since qualified supply, and beyond the economic reach of some educational institutions, non-qualified English teachers handle the subject in many cases.

3. CIEFL Proposals:
1. Increase in Training Facilities

1. The training facilities of the central Institute and Foreign Languages, the Regional Institutes of English, and the English Language, Teaching Institutes appear to be highly inadequate to meet the demand for quality teachers in the country at present. Even after the proposed expansion, there is unlikely to be any significant change in the situation.

2. There is a steady increase in the number of schools in the country since 1991 as can be seen from the following statistics.

   1991	Total Institutions	816,000
   	Primary Schools	570,000
   	Upper Primary Schools	156,000
   	Senior Schools	90,000
   	Higher Education	6,977
   1993	Sixth All India Educational Survey (Govt. of India)
   	Total Institutions	822,486
   	Primary Schools	570,455
   	Upper Primary Schools	162,805
   	Senior School	89,226
   1998	Ministry of HRD		%
   	Total Institutions	940,778	100.0
   	Pre-Primary School	41,788	4.5
   	Primary Schools	610,763	64.9
   	Middle Schools	185,506	19.7
   	High Schools	76,230	8.1
   	Higher Secondary Schools	26,491	2.8

3. The above are official figures of Government of India. An estimate of the number of schools for the years 2001 and 2006 (2006-07-last year of the Tenth Plan) has been made taking into consideration.

• the past relationship between population of the country and the total number of schools, and

• the break-up of the total number of schools into various categories on the basis of the percentage figures shown above for the year 1998.

4. The number of schools for the years 2001 and 2006 are shown below:

	2001	2006
Population	102,70,15,247	109,41,26,000
Factor used to arrive at the number of schools	0.00097	0.00097
No. of Schools			%
Total	9,96,205	10,61,300	100.0
pre-Primary	44,830	47,760	4.5
Primary	6,46,535	6,88,785	64.9
Middle	1,96,250	2,09,075	19.7
High	80,695	85,965	8.1
Higher Secondary	27,895	29,715	2.8

5. The number of English Teachers required for schools has been estimated as follows:

Total	7,15,875	7,62,645
pre-Primary	-	-
Primary	2,58,615	2,75,515
Middle	2,94,375	3,13,610
High/Higher Secondary	1,62,885	1,73,520

6. The above estimates are based on the following assumptions, obtained after discussions with a Publishing House specializing the school books:

   Pre-Primary Schools	No separate teacher is usually available for English.
   Primary Schools	60% of the schools do not usually have a separate teacher for English. There is one English Teacher per schools for the remaining 40% of the schools.
   Middle Schools	English Teachers usually available for 75% of the school @ 2 teachers per school.
   High/Higher	English Teachers usually available for 75% of the schools @ 2 teachers per school.

7. The above estimate of English teachers do not include the requirements of colleges, universities, and other institutions.

8. As mentioned earlier, due to shortage of qualified English Teachers, at present in many schools, English is taught by non-qualified teachers.

9. As against the 2001 requirements of 715,875 English teachers, CIEFL, Regional Institutes of English and English Languages Teaching Institutes are annually training around 1,100 teachers per annum at present. The number of teachers who require training remains very large indeed.

10. There are in all 35 states and Union Territories in the country. The number of existing training institutions for English is 11. CIEFL should therefore ask for one English Language Teaching Institute for each of the remaining 25 institutions to be started during the Tenth Plan Period.

11. Considering the requirements of quality teaching and training, and the numerous developments taking place in the field of teaching techniques and tools, it is not advisable to reduce the duration of the training programmes for teachers. Instead, the number of institutions, and intake into each class, may be increased.

2. Primary Teacher Training by ELTIs

   1. The number of primary school teachers is likely to increase from 2,58,615 in 2001 to 2,75,515 in 2006-07, the last year of the Tenth Five Year Plan. Considering the present capacity of the institutions to train only 1,100 teachers annually, the proposal to take up the training of primary school teachers during the Tenth Plan does not appear to be a realistic proposition.

   2. It is advisable to take stock of the existing infrastructure, the present inadequacies, and requirements before contemplating any move to bring the training of primary school teachers under the institutional umbrella of CIEFL and associated institutions.

3. Preparation of Syllabus and Production of Text Books :

   1. The additional workload of preparing syllabus and producing text books should be assessed in detail, and the existing time and skill availability has also to be considered before proposing to take up this responsibility during the Tenth Plan.

4. Certifying NGO

   1. Education being a subject in the Concurrent List of the Constitution of India, any proposal to regulate educational activities/institutions requires the concurrence of the State Government.

   2. Since regulation implies allocation of manpower and budgetary provisions, in the present situations of budgetary deficits and downsizing the Government organization, this proposal may not find favour with many of State Governments some of whom are not at all keen in giving prominence to development of English.

   3. The implementation of this proposal would also call for additions to infrastructure and skilled personnel with vision to anticipate the work involved in this new activity.

5. Customized ESP Programmes:

   1. There is very good scope for this kind of value added services, as the corporate sector and others requiring this kind of programmes will be able to afford a higher level of budget.

   2. The limitations to offer this kind of programmes will be the expertise available at present with the CIEFL and associate institutions, number of personnel available, and the infrastructure which has to be very sophisticated.

6. Global Centres

   1. There is very good scope for global centres similar to the one at Hanoi for training local persons in those countries in English. South American, Africa and Far East are in need of such facilities as mentioned earlier.

   2. It is very important that sufficient number of senior experts have to be allocated for such global centres. It may reduce the number of senior experts available for implementing the existing and new programmes being contemplated for India.

7. Quality of Training
   1. While there is vast scope for offering English teaching programmes to a variety of users, and training English teachers, it is necessary to guard against over-stretching the existing limited resource persons and infrastructural facilities. This will have an adverse effect on the quality of the programmes and the skills absorbed by the participants has to be developed.

• Making English language as optional subject at the undergraduate level and teaching of postgraduate courses in local language will only amount to putting a cap on employment potential for our youth. Making it optional at college level will be like giving medicine to a patient without diagnosing his illness.

  A framework for Improving English Language Teaching in India
  
  

• In India English has established as the only link language, except in some parts of northern India, among people from different parts of the country. English has emerged as the business language and world language for communication. In this scenario one can ignore English at one's own peril. The need of the hour is to find ways and means to improve English language teaching in India.

• The problems that come in the way of its teaching need to be identified. Strategies and methods to get rid of the problems that come in the way of its teaching need to be developed.

• Primacy to English language teaching at School Level : Since schools are the breeding point for all the ills at college and university level in this context, proper attention and planning with a multifaceted approach to develop English language at the school level will be a perfect prescription for the ailment. Focussing on development on English Language Teaching at school level not only enhances the knowledge level of the language needed for higher education at college and university level but also provides enormous career opportunities in business, trade, commerce, computer, science and information technology. Teachers and trainers at primary and secondary school levels must be given training and even re-training in accordance with changing curriculum, business scenario and market trends. The teachers had better be good if we want to create a better English knowing workforce.

• Curriculum : English at school and undergraduate classes needs to be made more interesting, useful and in tune with the times to achieve the desired result. Courses in the English language and literature must be separated and students be given the option to choose either of these. As part of the X Plan a research team should be formed to continuously study the English language curriculum in the country, and suggest changes in it to be in tune with the changing requirements of the job market and the business scenario.

• Speaking of Market, CIEFL and its network of institutes must understand the market scenario when drawing up curriculum and policies for promotion of English. With the boom of dot coms and the crisis of Y2K behind us, the two important businesses that are generating vast opportunities for employment are Call Centres and medical Transcription. India has emerged as an important source for supplying manpower to the MNCs involved in these businesses. English language teaching has wonderful opportunity in this to make a positive contribution to the society and economy. Training in English catering to the demands of these businesses will open great avenues for job seekers in India.

• When we talk of improving English language teaching, any approach that is adopted should be seen from the point of its impact. Increasing the number of teachers is not going to improve the standards. Quality of teaching, proper curriculum, training that suits the needs of the market, continuous improvement are the areas where the approach should be focussing on.

• Leverage Information Technology : Networking of all the ELTIs through a wide area network will facilitate quicker transmission of information, sharing of knowledge one a continuous basis.

• By casting a critical eye on what has happened in the past, you can identify patterns, trends, and themes that cross all time boundaries. (1) By examining what pitfalls have made them stumble, we can accept to avoid those same set of circumstances or events. (2) By noting the problems, we can study the solutions so that there is a viable plan or understanding of what is needed to rise up again.

• Learning : Since learning is the only infinite renewable source, we should always have an open mind towards learning. Hence, the need of the hour is to create and foster learning organisations. Organisations that respond to external situations, think innovatively and come up with dynamic solutions and creative ideas. Such organisations will be able to effectively synergise diverse insights.

• Feedback : Finally feedback. The impact of the curriculum, the strategies adopted in recruitment and training of teachers, the effectiveness of teaching methods, the policies and programmes undertaken for the promotion of English language; all need to go through, continuously, a feedback mechanism, preferably a 360 degree feedback mechanism involving students, teachers, policy makers, institutions and business houses (employment generators) so that there is dynamism and continuous improvement.

• It takes vision to take any exercise or project to its successful end. For improving English language teaching also, you must have a picture of what you are trying to accomplish. Situations change and the vision must change with them, because rigid adherence to a vision is a bad as no vision at all. Leverage information, change and time, using perpetual strategy to constantly evaluate and act to opportunities. I take this opportunity in congratulate CIEFL and its subsidiary institutes in the country for their commitment to promote the teaching of English language all these years.

I am sure the brainstorming exercises you undertake in this conference will enable you to reposition your strategies in the forth coming Xth plan.

Thank you.