KARACHI: Thar Foundation (TF) and The Citizens Foundation (TCF) on Thursday signed an agreement to adopt Sindhi as the medium of instruction in more than 500 TCF schools in Sindh, starting from Tharparkar where the former is supporting the establishment and running of such schools.
Sindh Minister for Education Jam Mehtab Dahar commended the move and assured his support and said, “Sindh Government will support organizations like TF and TCF in similar bids to improve quality of education in the province.”
“Adopting Sindhi as the medium in 500 quality schools in Sindhi is a significant move and I welcome this initiative for which the TF and TCF deserve acclaim,” minister said.
“The government alone cannot do much without the active participation of parents and civil society,” he said calling it a ‘confession’.
He said that it is a matter of pity that we don’t teach our children in mother-tongue, Sindhi, whereas, almost all European nations have progressed through adopting their native language as the medium of instruction. He cited the example of Finland which ranks among the top nations to have achieved excellence in the field of education.
“Adopting Sindhi as the medium of instruction has scientific basis behind it, and is not at all socio-politically motivated,” the Thar Foundation’s representative Naseer Memon said.
TCF Vice President Riaz Kamlan gave a detailed presentation on the project and process of adopting Sindhi as the medium of instruction in Sindh schools.
“While working on the project, we studied education models of different countries including Malaysia and Finland which have adopted their native language as the medium of instruction in schools, compared them with our potential project and found it worthwhile,” Kamlani explained.
He recommended other private school systems to adopt the model as “mother tongue bridges home with school and, thus, enabling the child to grasp the world ideas more effectively.”
