Talks on for full-fledged German programme in Indian schools

Germany is in talks with the HRD Ministry for expansion of German courses in various schools in India into a full-fledged programme as part of their curriculum, its top diplomat said today.
German Ambassador Michael Steiner, seeking better educational ties with India, said Germany wants the short-term courses to be converted into a full-fledged programme for those students who wish to pursue it further.
"We know that currently schools only offer German language courses for a few years. And, students wishing to study further the language, say beyond 10th grade (standard) do not have much options...But, we are in talks with the Indian government ministry (HRD) to expand German as a full-fledged language programme as part of the Indian curriculum," he said.

Steiner said this during his interaction with students of Carmel Convent School here after awarding it the status of a partner school of Germany, under its 'Partners for the Future' (PASCH) programme.
He also presented the school a PASCH plaque which was installed in the campus today.
Steiner in his address earlier spoke of "mental nearness" being more important than "geographical farness" in this globalised world and said any new language "is a key" to it.

"You think that most of you will grow up in India. But that is not true...In reality you will grow up in a globalised world...What you think is far can be near and what you think is near can be very far," he said.

Steiner also spoke of his experiences, linguistic and other, in India from Kashmir to Chennai.
"When I go back from India to Germany, of course I will be richer than I was before. It is an additional asset to my experiences, and similarly those who learn German will see India in a different way, in addition to their own original perspective," he said.
Invoking Sankrit's connection to the European land, he said, "Sanskrit has similarities with German...And it proves that we have long historical common link. And, geographically we may be so distant but in reality we are not very distant."

Incidentally, some students spoke fluently in German and Steiner, who chose to speak in English for the benefit of non-German speaking students said, he was impressed by their fluency in German.
The PASCH programmed launched in February 2008 by the German Foreign Office, aims at creating a global network of partner schools with special links to Germany. Currently, the network includes more than 1500 schools worldwide, a senior German Embassy official said
In India alone, there are 44 schools, of which 12 are in Delhi. The Doon School in Dehradun last year had joined the PASCH programme, he said.