“The colonial language policy”, as pointed out in one of the earlier write-ups, “was a well thought-out strategy designed to achieve clearly defined though not loudly declared broad politico-economic and socio-cultural objectives in the context of unstoppable European hegemony predicated on the accumulated socio-scientific knowledge the West had after all pervasive transformations triggered Renaissance, Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution”.

After the occupation of the sovereign state of the Punjab in 1849, education policy was rightly thought to be the lynchpin of colonial project. And in education policy, as we all know, the role of language is crucial. The colonial policy in the rest of India had been to introduce two languages; English for upper crust and vernacular (indigenous language) for lower orders. But out of political considerations and under the influence of Uttar Pradesh’s ‘Munshi’ class that accompanied the British officers who were exposed to the language[s] of that area, the policy was reversed. They imposed two foreign languages in Punjab; English and Urdu due to myriad political, strategic and administrative reasons.

J. Wilson, deputy commissioner of Shahpur (it was the district headquarters of Sargodha area at that time) was one of the enlightened officers who exposed this anti-people policy. He writes in his note: “I wish to draw attention to what I consider to be serious faults in our system of primary education in the Punjab—It fails to attract more than a small portion of boys we wish to educate, and especially of those belonging to agricultural classes, in which I include not only landowners, and tenants, but also artisans and village menials—it (instruction) is conducted for the most part in a language foreign to the people. To the ordinary Punjabi village boy Urdu is almost as foreign as French would be to an English rustic. The Punjabi boy is not taught to read the language he speaks, but a language many of the words in which he does not understand until they are translated for him into his own Punjabi— It was not until the native English tongue was adopted as a means of instruction that education became general among the masses of the people”.

Such a policy wreaked havoc on the education, writes the great educationist G. W.Leitner, in his famous “Indigenous Education in the Panjab” as within few decades the most literate region, deprived of its language, turned illiterate. Even after the independence there has been no significant change in the policy as far as the Punjab is concerned.

Educationists, language experts, cultural rights activists and international bodies such as Unesco have been urging the government to introduce mother language as medium of instruction at primary level at least which would raise literacy level and help boost the cognitive development of young students.

There has been no doubt some realisation of historical consequences of neglecting our mother language. Stunted growth of our children especially those from under-privileged and deprived classes is too evident to ignore. In 1970s a full-fledged Punjabi department was set up at the Punjab University. The change percolated through gradually and Punjabi was offered as elective subject at college level. But this top-down approach is like putting the cart before the horse. Bottom-up approach would have produced much better results in the matter of education of our children which is well below par. Mother language/ natural language greatly helps in the unimpeded development of children’s mind and imagination as it has been proved by loads of experiments and data.

At present Punjabi is offered as an elective subject in secondary and higher secondary schools which is a positive development but sadly the offer is subject to the caveat emptor principle. There are no officially appointed teachers available. If the headmaster/headmistress has some sense of the issue, he/she asks those interested to do additional duty of teaching Punjabi. Luckily there are teachers who love to do selfless service to help students to learn their mother language. Against all odds a large number of students take Punjabi and show excellent results, over 90 per cent, as is evident from the records of relevant examination boards. Teaching is a serious business and cannot be left to the mere will of heads of schools and colleges who are not legally answerable to anyone on the matter. A method needs to be injected in the madness which is only possible when there is a well thought-out official intervention i.e. regular appointments of teachers of Punjabi language. Our sources have reported a welcome development in this regard.

The Punjab secretary education (schools), realising the urgent need of the students has prepared a viable proposal for creating posts of Punjabi teachers in secondary and higher secondary schools. The proposal suggests that a number of vacancies of Punjabi teachers be created. The district CEOs of school education have weighed in with the suggestion highlighting the need for such action. SNE (schedule of new expenditure) with expenditure bearing certificates have been submitted to the Punjab finance department for approval. In the first phase, teachers are to be appointed in 16 districts of the Punjab and the remaining districts will get their quota of teachers in the next phase.

Though belated it’s a step in the right direction. Course correction is overdue. One hopes that the proposal would have the approval of the finance secretary as soon as possible. It won’t be a matter of ifs and buts as it has been in the past at a big cost which includes erasure of our language with long literary history and our thousands of years old culture. We talk education ad infinitum at policy forums. Let’s put our money where our mouth is for once. Getting education in one’s language is a natural right as well as constitutional one. It will not only enhance the mental and intellectual growth of our students but also raise the literacy level reducing the drop-out rate especially in the underdeveloped countryside. Making education natural which means less cumbersome and less exacting is the least we can do for the future of our children. — soofi01@hotmail.com

Published in Dawn, January 3rd, 2022