In a major development, the Punjab province of Pakistan has decided to replace the English language with Urdu. Urdu will henceforth be the medium of instruction in the primary schools and this decision will come into effect from March 2020. This latest move has received criticism from social activists and academic experts. The directive is likely to impact over 60,000 primary schools in the province.
The Pakistan Punjab government’s move comes on the plea that the teachers and students spend too much of their time in translation. They are wasting their time in translation which is actually assigned for teaching purposes.
This new development was announced by the Pakistan Punjab province’s chief minister Usman Buzdar. The decision to revert to Urdu has been implemented by a survey done by the provincial education department that includes the responses of students, parents, and teachers in 22 districts. According to the survey findings over 85 percent of the survey participants requested the medium of instruction be turned back to Urdu. However, English will be continued to be taught as a separate subject.
However this move has widely drawn criticism against the Pakistan government from activists and academic experts. The academicians have criticized the Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan for not fulfilling his promise of introducing uniform syllabus in all schools.