The Sindh government has lately decided to introduce Chinese language as a compulsory subject for secondary classes from 2013. However, I think that this is not at all a wise act or an advantageous step in any way.
Just like in taking most of its previous decisions, the government seems to have been too impulsive in taking this step also.
It did not consider the problems involved in introducing Chinese but instantly announced its implementation in schools from 2013. My question to the government is, that first of all, are even the teachers ready for this extra subject to be introduced in schools, let alone the students?
Chinese, being the world’s toughest language, is not easy to learn and thus even proper teachers for it are not available. So how can the Sindh government expect that Chinese teaching can start so early?
And secondly, are those subjects currently being taught to the students of primary and secondary classes, not enough for them that they are being burdened with extra work load?
We all know that three languages are already being taught to students in secondary classes, namely English, Urdu and Sindhi. How will they be able to take the burden of Chinese?
Moreover, the students are also not proficient in those languages which they already have been studying since beginning i.e. Urdu and English. We can clearly see the condition of the language which is spoken by the youth of our country, including students.
What they speak is mixture of both English and Urdu, with, in fact, more emphasis on English because speaking English is considered to be a matter of great pride by everyone, and secondly, the students have a mindset that Urdu is very difficult to read, speak and study.
Therefore, I believe that instead of introducing Chinese, more constructive steps should be taken to generate interest for Urdu in young people and concentrate on teaching them well the languages that they are already studying. There is no need to add this additional burden hastily.
MADIHA VIQUAR
Karachi
