Experts call for promotion of mother languages

Academics say children should be taught in languages they understand best

ISLAMABAD:

Experts belonging to the education and development sectors believe that reforms in the education sector should be continued to provide children the optimal learning opportunities in the languages they can best understand.

These views were expressed during a webinar titled, ‘Role of Languages in Learning & Cognitive Development’ organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in commemoration of International Mother Languages Day.

SDPI Executive Director Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri in his opening remarks said that uniformity in education was the need of the hour, and the Single National Curriculum (SNC) is a step towards the right direction.

“The bifurcation between the Urdu and English systems of education in Pakistan has been under discussion since long and thus, practical measures were being awaited,” said Dr Suleri, adding that in Pakistan, almost 75 languages are being spoken. Only 25 of these languages are facing extinction, which may be averted through collective efforts, he said.

Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training (MOFEPT) Joint Education Advisor Rafique Tahir asserted that the main objective of the SNC was to offer a single and united curriculum to students from diverse backgrounds.

“Besides, the SNC is still a test curriculum and open for changes,” he said. “Language is not only a tool of communication but also a complete identity. Under a broader consensus, Urdu was suggested as a language for the early education.”

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Allama Iqbal Open University’s Centre for Languages and Translation Studies Director Dr Ghulam Ali said that language and construction of reality goes together, and any language which is unfamiliar to a child cannot be helpful in learning.

He added that we should first teach language as a subject and then start teaching them other disciplines in that language. He suggested that knowledge creation in the national language or in the local languages by translating science and mathematics in these languages would ultimately lead the nation to take national stance on education and learning.

University of Sargodha Assistant Dr Nargis Abbas was of the view that language is the obligatory instrument of the whole learning process, while the mother language helps a child to develop his/her cognitive development and literacy skills.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2022.