Chennai, Sep 6 (IANS): In a bid to improve the English speaking skills of students, the Greater Chennai Corporation(GCC) has directed the schools under it to conduct Wednesday morning meetings for students of Classes 6 to 9 in English.

According to a recent study conducted by the GCC, it was found that many of the students lack English communication skills, and in a bid to improve this the corporation authorities have taken up the Wednesday English-speaking project.

There are 30,782 students in Classes 6 to 9 and the corporation's education department in a study found that only 8,037 students were able to effectively communicate in the English language.

The corporation education department officials, who were part of the study, told IANS that the study was conducted to learn about the communication skills of the students. The department has also directed the teachers to speak to students individually and discuss their problems.

The GCC officials told IANS that efforts were being taken to bring back the students who had dropped out of school during the Covid-19 pandemic. Around 6,000 students were out of schools since the pandemic and corporation has commenced efforts to bring these students back.

The corporation has also directed the school management to recruit temporary teachers. The Chennai Corporation has taken steps to conduct counselling sessions for the teachers who are recruited in the private schools, especially in language skills.