Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann said the move would upgrade the employability skills of the youth of Punjab at the workplace and would help them to get themselves placed in the industrial and services sector. He added that it would help in reversing the trend of brain drain from the state.
Mann said that the “English for Work” course would focus on teaching English language in real work-like situations. He said that it would lay a major thrust on skills-listening, reading, writing and speaking with the focus on grammar, pronunciation and vocabulary. Mann said that under the MOU, the project will be launched as a pilot project in the government colleges of the state for 5000 students from the Academic Session 2023- 24.
He added that it would be an online blended learning course that uses a proven ‘flipped classroom’ approach to combine the flexibility of self-study with live interactive classes. He expressed hope that students would develop their English skills to communicate with confidence in professional situations. He said there would be a pre-assessment test to know the level of the student and a post-assessment on completion of the course and students would be given a certificate on completion of the course.
The MOU was signed by director, higher education Amarpal Singh on behalf of the state government and MD of BCEIPL Duncan Wilson in presence of the CM Bhagwant Mann and Deputy High Commissioner of UK, Chandigarh Caroline Rowett.