The no. 1 skill

Updated on: Monday, October 26, 2009

Often, students with an exceptionally good academic record are shocked to find their job prospects dashed solely because of their inability to form a single meaningful sentence or speak cohesively.

At the launch of The Hindu EducationPlus Club in Mysore, this fact was underlined by Nagarajan Srinivasan, Head, Infosys Software Development Institute, Mysore: “It is heartbreaking when we are forced to reject students otherwise brilliant and with exceptional academic records but utterly incapable of speaking a single sentence in English.”

While the importance of good communication skills is a given, it is more so with regard to English language which has emerged as the lingua franca in an increasingly globalised economy.

Proficiency in English communication is increasingly seen to be a passport to a job. When other qualifications are equal, it is English communication skills that tilts the scale in one’s favour. When the trend in the job market is viewed with the changing realities of an India that is transforming itself from an agrarian to an industrial and knowledge-based economy, proficiency in English communication is perceived as a source of empowerment. This was reiterated by B.K. Chandrashekar, former MLC and a guest faculty at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.
Big gap

Even in English-medium schools, the teaching methodology lays more emphasis on grammar and literature and less on effective communication. There was a yawning gap between the expectations of the industry and the skills possessed by graduates.

It is in this backdrop that The Hindu launched an initiative in Andhra Pradesh, in association with SkillSpark of Hyderabad, to act as a facilitator to help students overcome their diffidence in speaking in English. The Hindu EducationPlus Clubs (see box) have been a runaway success with more than 100 colleges, including at least 40 engineering colleges, coming forward to form them.

Buoyed by the success in Andhra Pradesh, The Hindu decided to replicate the experiment in Karnataka and inaugurated The Hindu EducationPlus Club at the Mahajana’s Tourism Development Institute in Mysore.

This also signalled the launch of The Hindu EP Club activities in Karnataka and such clubs will be constituted in educational institutions in Udupi, Belgaum, Hubli, Gulbarga and Chickaballapur.

Sharing the industry’s perspective and experience in recruiting fresh graduates, Mr. Nagarajan Srinivasan in a special lecture said a majority of students were technically sound but were lacking in soft skills of which English communication was a vital component.
Facilitator

He appreciated The Hindu’s efforts in taking the initiative to act as a facilitator to fill this lacunae. He said one’s destiny was shaped by one’s personality and at the core of the personality was the ability to communicate.

Prof. Chandrashekar, who delivered the inaugural address, furnished statistics to show that the demand for English was high in rural areas as well where it was perceived to be a source of economic empowerment.

Citing a survey, he said out of 700 respondents interviewed in villages, more than 90 per cent wanted some kind of English to be taught.

He said The Hindu was providing a platform to enhance one’s communication skills and it was for the students to make use of it.

Parvathi Menon, Chief of Bureau, The Hindu, Karnataka, in her introductory remarks touched upon the context in which the EP Club initiative was launched and how The Hindu, with its vast experience of reportage, assessed that spurt in jobs in the new liberalised economy after 1990 was being increasingly linked to the knowledge of English communication.

The no. 1 skill

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