The National Curriculum Council of the Ministry of Federal Education has proposed the first draft of Single National Curriculum for students of Grade Pre-I to XII. The proposal has recommended English as the only medium of instruction ignoring all the mother languages of Pakistan.
The first attempt of the federal government to form a uniform curriculum for schools across the country is not short of loopholes. Presently, various mediums of instruction were being followed in all federating units owing to Pakistan being a multilingual country. The ministry wished to achieve national integrity and cohesion through bringing uniformity in thoughts on all national issues, interests and problems.
Punjab Lok Sangat Convener Amjad Saleem Minhas said that the proposed curriculum has outright ignored the importance of mother languages. He demanded introduction of a compulsory Punjabi language course in each grade from Pre-I to XII.
One of the members of the committee from Sindh had also rejected the first draft of the proposed national curriculum for ignoring their mother language, Sindhi. “The government wants to achieve social cohesion; it should include mother languages of all federating units. We have timely pointed out our apprehensions regarding ignoring mother languages,” he added.
Different policies have been adopted regarding the medium of instruction in different eras of the country. In the 1980s, Urdu was made the medium of instruction throughout the country but with the beginning of the 21st century, English was declared as the medium of instruction for all schools.
The first attempt of the federal government to form a uniform curriculum for schools across the country is not short of loopholes. Presently, various mediums of instruction were being followed in all federating units owing to Pakistan being a multilingual country. The ministry wished to achieve national integrity and cohesion through bringing uniformity in thoughts on all national issues, interests and problems.
Punjab Lok Sangat Convener Amjad Saleem Minhas said that the proposed curriculum has outright ignored the importance of mother languages. He demanded introduction of a compulsory Punjabi language course in each grade from Pre-I to XII.
One of the members of the committee from Sindh had also rejected the first draft of the proposed national curriculum for ignoring their mother language, Sindhi. “The government wants to achieve social cohesion; it should include mother languages of all federating units. We have timely pointed out our apprehensions regarding ignoring mother languages,” he added.
Different policies have been adopted regarding the medium of instruction in different eras of the country. In the 1980s, Urdu was made the medium of instruction throughout the country but with the beginning of the 21st century, English was declared as the medium of instruction for all schools.