This decision to make all schools English medium has primarily been taken to bring uniformity in the education system and to ensure that all children across the board get a fair chance to acquire an education that will give them the opportunity to compete with their more fortunate brethren in the province.

KP has apparently not learnt from the Punjab experience where in 2009 public schools were to teach English from class one and Science and Mathematics in English from class eight onwards.

Punjab’s arbitrary decision, taken without the backup of a feasibility plan, again hoped to equalise opportunities with the English medium stream. With no well-trained and qualified English language teachers at hand to undertake this enormous task, it could only have spelt potential disaster. What should have been a carefully thought out plan with a follow through approach has impacted innocent children’s lives whose future and potential is now further compromised.

Without any doubt, the language of instruction has to be carefully chosen as conceptual understanding and fluency in expression is the first and crucial step in defining quality education at its best. Unfortunately, since the past 25 years, no government in Pakistan has managed to give a clear cut policy on how to handle the language issue. However, in 1947, Urdu was declared the national language of Pakistan (as Hindi was declared the national language of India) and the public schools were directed to conduct instruction in Urdu with due emphasis on English as a second language to be taught from class six onwards. While India managed to set up their public school system with a standardised examination system promoting Hindi (despite a myriad of regional languages) and using a strong base for English as a second language, Pakistan’s difficulty in constitution making till 1973 hindered the progress to a clear, uniform provision for medium of instruction in the country.

According to the 1973 Constitution, Urdu was to take over as the official language of the state within 15 years of the promulgation of the constitution. This coincided with General Zia’s regime which tried to implement this clause and officially make Urdu the medium of instruction in all schools. Vested interests and lack of hard work and planning that is needed to accomplish such a task ensured that the job was not seen through to its logical conclusion. Up till the ’80s, government schools were able to sustain educational standards while imparting reasonable fluency in both Urdu and English languages. That could not be said of the English medium schools where the standard of Urdu was questionable and certainly not up to par with English.

Although students from the Urdu-medium stream went on to higher studies at college and university where English is the medium of instruction, the English-medium students had no problems adjusting but instead lost touch with the Urdu language. As educational standards fell after nationalisation of educational institutions in the ’70s, the Urdu medium students found it more and more difficult to keep up undergraduate and graduate-level studies in English and rote learning became the norm. For those who had the means to do their O and A Levels with English as the medium of instruction began in ever increasing numbers to opt for undergraduate and graduate studies abroad.

As the bulk of human resources that service schools comes from the Urdu medium stream because of economic and population demographics, the lack of command over English impacted standards of learning in both the Urdu and English medium schools during the ’90s. This became evident when in 2009, all Government schools were required to teach Mathematics and Science subjects in English from grade eight onwards. The very recent SAHE report on this states that students barely make it to 37 per cent in these subjects and the overall pass percentage has gone down. Simultaneously, even though the number of English medium schools taking the O Level examination (which can only be taken in the English Language) has multiplied, the instruction is mostly being done in a mixture of Urdu and English or rote learning to ensure success in these high stake examinations.

Consequently, an indecisive, apathetic attitude on the part of the government in solving the language conundrum has resulted in falling standards of education from school right up to college and university level. It has severely affected and increased student dropout rate from schools and colleges because of poor language skills which impact understanding and comprehension of subject matter.

Moreover, what has been most affected is Pakistan’s static literacy rate. This is because, initially, children learn faster and comprehend better in their first language, i.e., mother tongue before taking on a second or third language. As this has not been the case so far, gaining command over both Urdu and English as acquired languages becomes difficult (teachers and teaching methodology being part of the problem, too) and students start to lose interest in schooling as well. Literacy levels are liable to soar if the mother tongue is used at the elementary and early primary stages.

Justice in the system of education can only stem from a fair and inclusive language policy which is applied to all four provinces in a uniform manner. The mother tongue of each province could be the base of early childhood education (teaching materials can easily and quickly be made at elementary level of schooling) and Urdu and English introduced from classes three, four or five since recent educational research has proved that if the first language has a secure and sound base in early childhood education, then second and third languages are more easily picked up and greater competency gained in those languages. Alternatively, English language centres can be set up within schools to teach it skillfully to students from class seven to 10 as a language rather than as a subject from class one to 10.

Before more damage is caused by a failure to enunciate a clear cut language policy, the present PML-N government must at all costs start the ball rolling for reforming the education sector. The first step is to formulate a language bill and its five-year implementation plan with the help of a panel of language experts and then have it ratified by the National Assembly to be implemented as a law. Strong and adamant political will is the catalyst for reform — the day the government puts its mind to do it and does it sensibly, it will be done and Pakistan can finally set its course for a successful economic and social revolution through a literate nation.

The writer is an educational consultant based in Lahore.

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