Chacha Ghalib and his ilk disappearing from curricula?

Following the removal of Urdu as a compulsory subject from the Pharmacy and Commerce courses, the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has now dropped the national language from the Science curriculum.
An HEC official, on condition of anonymity, told Pakistan Today that the commission has uploaded the approved syllabus for students of the Science faculty, and Urdu was not in the list of compulsory subjects.
“In the uploaded syllabus for Science students, the HEC has added some more English subjects in the list of compulsory subjects, but it has removed Urdu,” he added.
He said the HEC had earlier removed Urdu from the list of compulsory subjects of Pharmacy and Commerce faculties, claiming that the national language has no importance for these students.
He also said many private universities, following the directives of the HEC, have stopped teaching Urdu as a compulsory subject at graduate level.
However, he added, the HEC has not received any response from public sector universities over revision of the curricula.
Talking to Pakistan Today, National Curriculum Revision Committee Director Malik Arshad confirmed that Urdu is now no more a compulsory subject for the students the Science faculty.
However, Arshad had no clue when the HEC took the decision to remove Urdu from the list of compulsory subjects at graduate level.
Karachi University Academic Affairs Pro Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Shahana Urooj Kazmi said the varsity would not comply with the HEC’s decision of removing the national language from the list of compulsory subjects.
Kazmi said the university is an autonomous body and it is not necessary for its administration to adopt every HEC decision.
Moreover, the pro vice chancellor claimed that the varsity has not received any letter from the HEC regarding its decision concerning the removal of Urdu.