U.S. Consulate General-Chennai Honors Non-Elite Students with “Access” English Course Completion Certificates

Consul General Andrew Simkin interacts with the “Access” students of Home for Poor Boys at Madrasa-I-Azam on June 18.

June 18: The U.S. Consulate General-Chennai celebrated two graduation ceremonies recently at two “Access” program sites in Chennai – Anjuman Matriculation Higher Secondary School and Home for Poor Boys at Madrasa-I-Azam. “Access” English Microscholarship is one of U.S. Consulate’s initiatives to expand English language learning to the underprivileged students in South India. Sponsored by the Office of English Language Programs, U.S. Department of State, Access is a two-year interactive English teaching program for non-elite students. The program provides students with multi-skill techniques and a class room experience that emphasizes active learning. Since its inception in 2004, it has reached more than 1500 students in New Delhi, Jammu, Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuram and Chennai.

On June 10, 2009, Public Affairs Officer Frederick J. Kaplan presented certificates to 65 Access program students at Anjuman Matriculation Higher Secondary School, to acknowledge their successful completion of the program for the year 2006-2008. Andrew T. Simkin, Consul General, honored 53 students at the Home for Poor Boys with the “Access” program completion certificates on June 18, 2009. The students at both the venues demonstrated their newly acquired skills by performing skits and reciting poems in front of an audience of prominent Muslim opinion leaders and educators, parents and family members and other invited guests. Deeply inspired by President Obama’s recent speech at Cairo, Anjuman students briefly and beautifully narrated Sufi Poet Rumi’s message of universality. All the teachers and parents and committee members at both the organizations were extremely happy about the impact of “Access” program when they witnessed 100% success in their board examinations.

The Regional English Language Office at the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi presented a copy of the Cambridge Learner’s Dictionary to each of these students.