KARACHI, Oct 24: A body of Urdu teachers of the city colleges has opposed the official move to reduce the number of Urdu papers given to the students at the intermediate level.

Speaking at a press conference on Monday, leaders of the body, “Urdu Bachao Tehreek” (Save Urdu Movement) urged the authorities to intervene and order for well thought-out measures, as they feared that the notifications of the Sindh education department issued one after another could damage the existing peace and harmony in the province.

Led by Prof Dr Nazar Kamrani, Prof Sirajuddin Qazi, Imtiaz Ahmad and Ozair A. Madni, the teachers’ movement in question, also announced to observe a black day in the city colleges on Oct 29.

Prof Kamrani expressed the view that Urdu, the national language, was the language of communication, which was likely to be undermined by the introduction of Sindhi Salees as a compulsory subject by slashing a 100-marks paper of Urdu taught to the students in Class XI.

The introduction of a new scheme of studies could cause problems for the students aspiring education in professional colleges and institutions or those joining the intermediate system after O-levels, he added.

Ozair Madni said that efforts should be made to teach Urdu and Sindhi to the students at schools in a meaningful way with a spirit to enable the students understand significantly the language and its uses in the daily life, and the government should not try to impose Sindhi or Urdu teaching as a compulsory subject to the students at the intermediate level.

Prof Qazi counted the pros and cons of the official move and noted that the notifications were issued, on Sept 27 and after, on the subject of Sindhi and Urdu Salees secretively and in a chaotic style, without taking into consideration the problems of thousands of students and not having discussed the mechanisms and time frame for the implementation of the new scheme of studies.