The schools, which started with classes 1 to 8 in 2019, have added one class yearly to accommodate the promoted students. In the 2022-23 state budget, the government announced that another 2,000 MGEMS would be established.

Around 1,205 Hindi medium schools have been converted into English medium schools under the scheme. Of these, 211 were converted to English from the current academic year, when students returned to schools after two years of online classes due to the pandemic.

“These elite schools have received a heavy rush of applicants,” said Jaipur resident Nazim Qureshi, who admitted his son to the school in 2020, when his business was impacted by Covid-19 lockdowns.

Like him, many parents shifted their children from private schools to MGEMS during the pandemic to avail free education. According to the education department, about half a million students from private schools joined government schools during the pandemic.

“We are only taking students on merit now, as there are very few vacancies,” said a principal of a Jaipur-based MGEMS.

The success of MGEMS has created some teething trouble for the government. Some students cannot cope with the language shift, and the government has not been able to create a cadre of teachers capable of teaching in English.

In some cases, teachers who taught in Hindi earlier are now teaching in English. The education department recently conducted interviews for teachers from the pool of its regular academic staff who were willing to shift to these schools. Some districts such as Sri Ganganagar have also started internships for teachers to learn English.

The language issue has led to 80 government schools proposing to the education department that these should be run in two shifts — morning for English medium students and afternoon for Hindi.

The proposal came from some districts such as Jaipur and Barmer after parents protested against the conversion of the medium of instruction, even though the decision was based on recommendations of student management committees.

“The education department has received around 80 proposals to run schools in two shifts for Hindi and English medium,” an official aware of the development said, seeking anonymity.

Some students have adjusted to the change, while others haven’t.

“Initially I was a bit hesitant, thinking it would be tough, but now it feels good,” said Komal Singh, a class 8 student in a newly converted English medium school in Jaipur. “Though I will have to put in more hard work, my elder sister will help me.” She was confident that education in English would benefit her.

Agreeing that English is the language of the future, Rekha Sharma, whose three children are studying in the same government school, said: “The decision is welcome, but it will not be easy for the children to adopt to such a sudden change.”

This is particularly true for students in higher classes. Ajay and Kushal, two class 12 students in the same school, want to continue studying Hindi. They will appear for the board examination next year and said they would not be able to cope with the change in such a short time.

“The student development management committee of the school in a meeting held on June 29 had suggested that we aren’t against English but Hindi medium should also continue,” said Laxman Singh, area councillor and a member of the school committee.

The parents want to continue with both mediums of instruction as there is no Hindi medium school government within two-three km, Singh said. The parents of children in this school are from financially weaker sections and will not be able to spend around ₹1,000 per month for their children to commute to a school in distant areas, he added.

School principal Sangeeta Faujdar said she had received orders to admit students who want to study in English and transfer those opting for Hindi to a nearby government school. “English school concept is a welcome move, but change takes time,” Faujdar said. “Had it been a gradual process, the acceptance would have been better. A double shift concept with both mediums is a viable option.”

In Barmer district, Geeta Singh, a parent, said school authorities were forcing students to take transfer certificates. “There is no other school in the vicinity and we cannot afford private schools,” she said. “If our demands are not heard, then the future of our children will get compromised.” Her children study at a government senior secondary school in Tilak Nagar in Barmer.

“We are not opposing English medium, but at the same time, we want our kids to continue their study in Hindi,” said Aasu Kanwar, another parent. “If the government wants to start an English medium, it should run the school in two shifts.”

After parents opposed the shift to English medium, the local lawmaker intervened to request the government to continue Hindi medium in the afternoon shift at this school, said Rajan Sharma, district education officer of Barmer. “We have also suggested the government to run this school in two shifts,” he added.

The conversions have not been done hurriedly, said Gaurav Agarwal, Rajasthan’s director of secondary education. The proposals to change came from student development management committees, which have parents, teachers, and elected representatives as its members, he said.

Moreover, he added, the change in the medium of instruction from Hindi to English is only for classes 1 to 8 and the higher classes would continue to learn in Hindi. “After class 8, the change will be only for promoted students. For instance, next year, English will be medium of education for class 11, and the year after that, for class 10,” he said.

Students have been given the option to select between Hindi and English. “Where there is a geographical issue and there is no other government school in the vicinity of 2-3 sq. km, proposals have been received to run schools in two shifts,” he said.

The state government is also forming a separate cadre of English teachers, Agarwal said.

The state government is trying to bulldoze English language among students, alleged Rajendra Rathore of the Bharatiya Janata Party, deputy leader of the opposition in the state legislative assembly.

“It is unfortunate that instead of opening new English medium schools to implement its announcement, the government has converted a large number of existing Hindi medium schools into English medium, denying benefit of education to lakhs of Hindi medium students,” he said.

English medium schools are being forcibly imposed on students of the state, Rathore said. In the past three years, the government has converted 1,205 Hindi medium schools into English medium schools and, with the same mindset, is going to convert an additional 2,000 Hindi medium schools to English, he said.

“It shows the government’s anti-Hindi stand, and its failure to deal with students’ apprehension over the language,” Rathore said.

The former Rajasthan minister also alleged that the state government had failed to create a separate cadre of English language teachers, and the decision was having a negative impact on the Hindi medium students. “Many students are now being forced to take admission in private schools teaching in Hindi,” he said.

The move by the state government to open English medium schools is welcome, but it requires adequate infrastructure and teachers, said RP Sharma, a retired teacher, and recipient of the President’s award.

“The decision to open English medium schools is good, but they should have been opened with adequate infrastructure and teachers. The teachers, even the subject experts, were teaching through Hindi books, and they need to time to adapt to the language change,” he said.

“The government should have opened the schools in limited numbers, ensuring adequate resources, teachers and infrastructure,” said Sharma, the general secretary of the Puraskrit Shikshak Forum, Rajasthan.