Students of Delhi University who face difficulties with the English language despite being brilliant in studies have something to look forward to hone up their language skills. The Institute of Life Long Learning (ILLL) has finalized a proposal to start an English language proficiency course, with the help of the Department of English and the Central Institute of Education (CIE).

ILLL and Centre for Professional Development in Higher Education (CPDHE), has designed the course for students who are brilliant at studies but find it difficult to make presentations, research papers and journals in English. According to A K Bakshi, Director, ILLL, "Many students from the science stream are unable to use language skills with ease in academic and social contexts and have poor English language skills."

With DU having a large chunk of students from various backgrounds and some students have poor language skills. This acts as a deterrent to their studies and growth. Their involvement in classroom activities diminishes and eventually they lose confidence in reading or writing. In fact many of the toppers are hesitant in making dissertations as they are not proficient in English.

The course will cater to undergraduate and postgraduate students and will be available at five centers of DU. According to Mr. Bakshi, in the initial phase the course will be for business and economics students and will be available at South Campus of DU.

The course duration will be 100 hours and each session will be of two hours' duration. Though not sure how much will be the fee for this course, Mr. Bakshi said that the fee will range from Rs 500-1000 and there will be concession in fees for students coming from the reserved category.