The 'English in Schools' (EIS), a joint initiative of The Daily Star and AKTEL, is a well-timed initiative to help students learn English and prepare themselves to face global challenges, said speakers at the launching ceremony of the programme here yesterday.

"Thanks to information technology, the world has become a global village where knowledge of English is a must to acquire new idea and information to face different challenges in the rat race world," they added.

The launching session was kicked off by Shefina Begum,

additional deputy commissioner (education and development) of Jessore, as the chief guest at the Municipality Community Centre.

SM Abdul Latif, registrar of Jessore University of Science and Technology, and Zakir Hossain, deputy director of education department, attended the programme as the special guests.

In her speech, Shefina Begum said the new generation is the future of the country.

"To make them properly educated, knowledge of English is a must. The Daily Star and Aktel have taken an appropriate initiative in this

regard,” she added.

Shahnoor Wahid, senior assistant editor of The Daily Star, said EIS will help students overcome the barrier to learning English language.

The students of some 130 schools under Khulna division will be provided with The Daily Star to learn new words and enrich their vocabulary collections, he added.

Koji Ono, chief strategy officer of AKTEL, said the vast manpower of Bangladesh could be turned into real asset if they are imparted education properly.

"English is the most important tool to achieve this objective," he added.

Moderating the session, Prof Shaheen Kabir of Jahangirnagar University highlighted the characteristics of the programme and called on the English teachers to help implement it successfully.

Bidyut Kumar Basu, chief commercial officer of AKTEL, Abu Masud Bulbul, circulation manager, and Shariar Shahid, in-charge of business development, ofThe Daily Star were present at the orientation programme.

Some 260 teachers of Jessore, Satkhira, Bagerhat, Jhenaidah, Magura, Kushtia, Meherpur, Chuadanga and Narail took part in the programme.

Initially, EIS will cover the students of 1000 schools across the country.

To encourage the habit of reading English, each school under EIS programme will be provided with three copies of The Daily Star five days a week free of cost.

Moreover, there will be a weekly full-page English learning material, which both the students and the teachers can use inside and outside the classrooms. Regular competitions on spelling, vocabulary, quiz, puzzles and book reading will be covered by this programme to help develop English language skills of the students.