LEARNING English is almost compulsory in our education system as it is the medium of instruction in almost all secondary schools particularly the prestigious ones. The government’s intention to make Urdu the medium of instruction will cause disadvantage to students in the long run.

The changeover to Urdu to educate students will in all likelihood develop a morbid trend among students to continue their education even at university level in the same language.

The federal education minister in his bid to justify the Single National Curriculum says that on the technical side the government has studied many international curricula and taken feedback from Cambridge on the issue. I am of the opinion that merely studying and coming up with curricula that promotes rote learning instead of improving students’ IQ and problem solving abilities is an exercise in futility.

The minister needs to elaborate the points on which feedback was sought from Cambridge.

The minister also states that he cannot remember the last time so many people were talking and writing about education. Well, this is so because people are genuinely worried about our future generations, who will find it more difficult to compete with the outside world if the government persists with the implementation of the SNC.

Parvez Rahim
Karachi

Published in Dawn, September 22nd, 2020