THIS is apropos the article ‘Get issues right’ by Zubeida Mustafa (Oct 9). There is no doubt that the issues highlighted in the article do exist in our society and it is a fact that the single national curriculum is diverting attention from the real issues.

What needs to be highlighted is the amount of pressure parents have on their shoulders while getting their child enrolled in a school when it comes to deciding the medium of school and whether the teachers speak English fluently or not.

It is funny that people nowadays focus on the language rather than the correct usage of it. We often see teachers or children speaking English. But are they using it correctly?

The question that needs to be asked from every citizen is simple: do we really need to fit in the world of a second language? Can we survive without it? In my opinion, we cannot survive without it. Not when you want to progress exponentially because you might succeed without having command over English, but somewhere you will have to face the brunt of not knowing the language.

Having said that, having a strong grip on the language and yet not knowing what to do with it is another story.

Therefore, the focus of our government, people and parents should be on nourishing the concepts, intelligence quotient (IQ) and emotional intelligence of a child rather than expecting him/her to speak this language or that.

Aeyman Zehra
Karachi

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2020