KARACHI: A controversy has emerged over a recent decision of the academic council of Karachi University (KU) according to which Urdu would be re-introduced as a compulsory subject this year in the bachelor of commerce (BCom) degree, sources told Dawn on Sunday.

They said efforts were under way to bring back the subject again. This is to be discussed in the upcoming meeting of the academic council and is likely that the decision would be reversed. This is ongoing though the original decision had the support of a majority of members of the statutory body. These efforts, sources say, are being supported not only by KU faculty members but also by many colleges offering commerce education on the grounds that professional education doesn’t require learning Urdu and so it will burden students.

A group of college teachers opposing the teaching of Urdu in BCom had recently met the vice chancellor and apprised him of their concerns over the academic council’s decision.

The controversy over the issue, according to sources, would delay the hiring process at colleges and with the new academic year starting in a few weeks, the students are likely to be the most affected.

Over 50 commerce colleges (private and government) are affiliated with the KU and more than 85,000 students (both of Part 1 and Part II) yearly appear for their commerce exams. Urdu would be taught in the second year.

A university notification dated Jan 20, 2015, states: “The academic council vide its resolution No.7 October 20, 2014 approved the minutes of the Board of Faculty of Faculty of Management and Administrative Sciences dated May 22, 2014 and also decided to incorporate the subject of Urdu as compulsory subject in B.Com. The decision will be effective on the B.Com annual examination 2015 an onward.”

Speaking to Dawn, teachers opposing the re-introduction of Urdu as a compulsory subject said that Urdu was not being taught at any institution offering professional education and the decision would not only burden students and college administrations, but would also affect the students’ overall percentage.

“Also, we believe that due process has not been followed in this issue and it didn’t involve taking input from other statutory bodies like the board of studies and the matter was directly brought to the academic council,” said chairman of the KU’s department of commerce Dr Tahir Ali.

He also said that since the university’s examination system was bilingual (students were allowed to use either English or Urdu), there was no need to worry about Urdu-medium students.

The matter, he said, would be taken back to the academic council for discussion.

Upon contact, Urdu department chairperson Prof Zulqarnain Shadab expressed surprise over these reservations and said that it was difficult to understand why some people were opposing this subject. “The decision would benefit a large number of students who have received their education in Urdu. Everybody knows that teachers are unable to deliver their lectures entirely in English and rely more on Urdu. So, why are we reluctant to read and study Urdu?”

According to him, all formalities under the University Code were fulfilled before bringing the matter to the academic council.

Urdu, he added, was Pakistan’s national language and its teaching would help students to relate to their culture, society and values.

Urdu had been taught as a compulsory subject in BCom for many years before it was dropped from the list of subjects for commerce education more than a decade ago.

Published in Dawn, March 9th, 2015

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