The French Institute in India (IFI), the Delhi Board of School Education (DBSE) Hero MotoCorp Ltd (HMCL) and the Franco-Indian Education Trust (FIET) have come together for a unique collaboration aimed at promoting French language education in India. The initiative called “French for All, French for a Better Future“, aims to provide access to learning French language to students from different sections of society, and promote skill development and greater employment opportunities through the added advantage of proficiency in French.
The project is being implemented across 33 DBSE schools with 12 teachers covering around 3000 students, wherein French is being offered to students from classes VI to X. To ensure progress for the key beneficiaries of this project i.e students, teachers teaching French in DBSE schools are being provided with linguistic and pedagogical training for skills and quality improvement. Additionally, Language Labs equipped with high-tech audio-visual materials holding diverse French language content have also been installed in DBSE schools to cater to each student individually in improving their linguistic capabilities, particularly speaking and listening; while making French language classes more fun for students.
The first French language lab was inaugurated at the Dr B. R. Ambedkar School of Specialised Excellence (SOSE sector 17 – Rohini). Eminent personalities graced the event, with speeches by Rajesh Mukhija (Advisor-CSR, Hero MotoCorp Ltd.), Emmanuel Lebrun-Damiens (Country Director, French Institute in India), Himanshu Gupta (Director – Education, Govt. of NCT Delhi), and Prshant Lahoti (Managing Trustee, Franco Indian Education Trust).
Emmanuel Lebrun-Damiens said that through the French for All project, “we aim to provide access to French language learning to students from diverse backgrounds and promote a better future through linguistic and cultural exchange.” Prshant Lahoti added, “We will be setting up more French language lab in the near future. This will open doors for more students to explore French language, Francophone cultures and to access the best of the educational institutions in France. We thank Hero MotoCorp for supporting us in this great endeavour.”