In government schools where is the room to write?

Abstract

This article deals with writing, more specifically English writing, with regard to students studying in government schools. In these schools, classroom instruction is geared towards preparing students to write for the defining school leaving exam conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) at the end of class XII. The overly centralized system does not give teachers much room to teach students about the diverse meaning writing can have in their lives. Since examinations favour strict adherence to the text with an over emphasis on accuracy, this does not encourage students to connect their writing with their lived experiences. The world of academic English found in school does not accommodate the variety of English that is found in the out-of-school contexts of government school students. In fact, teachers themselves see their writing lives as being quite separate from their role as teachers of writing

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