The Education Department of Punjab issued a notification that all public sector schools of Punjab be converted to English medium schools from this year onwards. The Punjabi children of Pakistan are suddenly studying in English medium schools. All it required was the effort of passing a mere statement. Point to be celebrated here is that changing the medium of instruction has been taken as a precondition in order to raise the standard of education.
It is not to be implied in the least that English medium schools do not account for a higher standard of education. I believe English-medium schools offer good quality education only because our curriculum was shaped accordingly and most importantly, our teachers were well-versed in the language. In the public sector, clearly no such manoeuvres have been performed. Before making this declaration, such aspects should have been taken into consideration by the Punjab government.
Changing the curriculum is one of the first things that should have been undertaken, followed by a comprehensive teachers’ training programme. There are quite a number of unemployed, trained teachers out there who could have been recruited for the purpose.
On my recent trip to Lodhran in South Punjab, I was able to visit a total of eight schools that were previously being run by the government. I did not find any of the children with whom I sought to interact speaking possibly in any other language than their local one, Saraiki, though their books were in Urdu and English language.
Upon further examination, I found that children had memorised those pages in English and were not able to tell what it meant. Considering the fact that teachers are not qualified enough and children do not find the language spoken in their daily lives, it really is not surprising that they do not know what they were studying.
The English language, without a doubt, is one of the dominant languages in the world. According to a report by UNESCO, estimates have suggested that around 50 percent of today’s spoken languages may be extinct in the year 2100. Education accounts for one of the fundamental factors in the disappearance of these languages. Most of them would be indigenous ones.
Successive governments have not been able to recruit staff that is qualified enough to teach English in public sector schools. In such a situation, the government should not risk the future of the country for the sake of a foreign language. When students and teachers are well versed in the language of instruction, only then are they capable of sharing knowledge, ask and answer questions, take plunges of creativity and fashion an environment of healthy and interactive discussions and debates in the classroom. That is what learning and educating is about and stands to define quality education and raising the bar.
Very few non profit entities have been able to come up with a novel approach of brightening the young minds of our nation. Supplementary reading material in local languages like Saraiki and Punjabi is being introduced in the local schools of Southern Punjab.
The idea behind this particular endeavour is basically to allow students to remain connected to their indigenous language. The get reading material that consists of short stories that are interesting enough and which comes to them like a breath of fresh air in order to think creatively, critically, freely and out of the box. Only then can we expect them to become responsible and active citizens of our nation.
Similarly, some educational foundations are sending their teachers to cities like Karachi for teachers’ training programmes. They undergo a process of learning and adaptability to modern methods of teaching so that they are able to impart gainful knowledge to their students.
While English may be the ‘language of power’ and the ‘language of today’, we cannot let it hamper our country’s youth’s creativity and act as a hurdle on their path of learning. We need to realise that our system of education is still far behind in adopting such a strategy as the Punjab government has done.
AMNA KAUSAR
Lahore
i thank it is good step which government took.when they will learn English since childhood,they will not face any difficulty in on higher level because of english which is essential to get
good jobs l.the other thing that it will help to finish the obstacle for middle and lower class.
RAJA SAB KO KHAN PUR ROAD SAY LAY KAR AANA TA K US KO PATA LAGY UR
Hello. I am a teacher in the US. Here, we have many children coming from other countries to our schools. For their first year, they are instructed in the language of their country for about 3/4s of the day and 1/4 in English. The next year, primary instructions is still in their native language but up to 1/2 English a day. By year three, and 4, they learn and speak in English most of the day with explanations in their native language if needed. It takes about 5 years and the students become fluent in English, but still retain their own language, which is important because their families at home speak the native language.
Some classrooms are multilingual. For example 1/2 the class speaks only English and 1/2 the class speaks only Spanish. Then 1/2 the day is instructed in English and 1/2 the day is instructed in Spanish. This works well for students who are bright and with students whose parents want them to become multilingual. Here in the US, English is the predominant language, but it is very helpful to know Spanish because there are many citizens from Mexico here.
Some day I would love to come to Pakistan and see your schools. I would love to teach English there, but I am reluctant because I do not speak Punjabi or Urdu at all.
Also, one thing I failed to mention is that often our bilingual classrooms have adult assistants in them to help work with students one on one. It is difficult to do with only one teacher.
"Furthing peace in our world through education to all children."
The Punjabi children of Pakistan
are suddenly studying in English
medium schools. wah ji wah english language ko importance dene wale ja k govt primary schools ka hal dekhen jaha 6 clasis huti hen or two teachers 9 scale ki jin me aksriyat matric ptc han kahin kahin b.a ya m.a bhi hen but 3,3 clasis jin k 15 ,k qareeb subject bante hun aik teacher k lye imposble he or punjab k rural area me bacho ko eng language adopt krna boht muskil hu rha he bache school chor chor k ja rhe hen or maze ki bat ye he k english ki book ju k already eng me huti wo asan he sb clasis ki or science or social study wagera ki book boht muskil hen 10th class me b esi tough language use nhi ki gi ju itne chote bacho ki boks me use ki gi he bache pare gey khak wo lafz ada hi nhi kr skte ye sb mazak jhoot nhi ap kc b govt primary schol ja k sb clasis ki boks dekh len i think ye sazish he k punjab edu me peche reh jae punjabi kese bad naseeb hen ju sochte punjabi me bolte urdu or parte or likhte eng me hen wah magr wohi ju eng jan paen bacho ko nafs mazmon.ki kia khak smj aye gi wo to eng ki bhol balyu me gum hen ane wale chand salo me is stupid policy ka sara pol khol jae ga jb dobara urdu language in hu gi so finly hm zabane hi tabdeel karte rhen gey or shaid isi ko tabdildi a gi keh k kuch hute rahen gey
rightly said … pta nae logo ko kya ho gya hai .. hum log shayad yeh smhjhna shuru ho gye hain k english perhne se hum dunya or aakhrat dono me falah payen ge ….. what non sense ….
koi smjhao k hum smjhaen kya?
The problem remains that there is not a law about rewriting something as your own words, especially for content.
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