KARACHI, Dec 8: The federal government is considering introducing Arabic as another compulsory language subject from Class VI to Class XII in the next academic year, it has been learnt reliably.

Well-placed sources told Dawn that the federal education ministry sent a proposal in this regard to all the four provincial education departments to obtain their views.

They said that another proposal aimed at teaching the Quran with translation from Class IV to Class VIII during the existing Nazira Quran period was also being debated and discussed by all the four provincial education departments of the country on the directives of the federal education ministry.

The Sindh education department, said the sources, was currently weighing the two proposals before accepting or rejecting them.

The sources said that if all the four provinces give the nod to the two proposals, the federal education ministry would formally take a decision and implement it from the next academic session.

They said that after the implementation of the proposals it would be mandatory for the students of Class VI to Class XII to clear the subject of the Arabic language to get their academic certificates.

Explaining the reasons behind the proposal of teaching the Quran with translation from Class IV to Class VIII during their Nazira Quran period, the sources said that students of these classes would not only complete the Quran in five years but would also have full understanding of the Book.

They said that all the four provincial governments would hire the services of Arabic-language teachers on a large scale and only those having MA degrees in the Arabic language would be given employment in schools and colleges.

Meanwhile, stakeholders said that it was beyond their comprehension why the federal ministry of education was bent on introducing one more compulsory subject when the children were already burdened with the studies of a number of languages such as English, Urdu, one regional language, etc.

They termed the move to introduce the Arabic language as a compulsory subject ‘uncalled for’ and ‘unjust’ and observed that in case the ministry succeeded in getting the proposal approved from the provincial education departments, it would amount to further burdening their children and thus the children would not be able to spare sufficient time to study other compulsory subjects related to science, mathematics and others in which they would like to pursue their higher studies.

The sources said that children having other than the Urdu language as their mother tongue would be the worst sufferers of the likely introduction of another language as a compulsory subject.