English will be taught from the fourth year in 284 elementary boys’ and girls’ schools in Makkah province from the next academic year, which begins Sept. 10, the local education officials announced Sunday.

Undersecretary of the Ministry of Education for Planning and Development Naif Al-Roumi said the ministry would seek the help of international firms to teach the language. He said the ministry has so far received offers from three of these firms.

“The ministry is determined to arm students with languages so that they take our culture to foreign societies, spread Islam and serve humanity,” he said. (more…)

Indiana University professor Annela Teemant specializes in teaching educators in urban settings how to teach English as a second language to immigrant children. But three years ago she expanded her efforts to reach teachers in the affluent suburban community of Avon, Ind.

Her help couldn’t have come soon enough. The number of students in Avon’s elementary schools who don’t speak English as their native tongue went from 87 to 127 in the last four years. At Avon’s Hickory Elementary School, the number went from 1 to 64 students; more than 10 percent of the school’s students are now classified as English Language Learners, or ELL. (more…)