IT is astonishing that students in Punjab study Punjabi, in Sindh they are taught Sindhi, in the NWFP they are taught Pashtu but students of Balochistan aren't taught Balochi.

The students don't know how to read and write Balochi. This poses a threat to Balochi literature. The students can read and write Urdu and English very well but when they are asked to write something in Balochi, they can't.

Every individual has the right to learn his or her mother tongue.

What surprises me is that if students are taught Arabic in Class VI, then why not Balochi? In the past 63 years, only once was the Balochi language taught in schools for a couple of years but the practice was stopped soon.

The students are taught Balochi at FA level, where they don't gain as much as a student can in the early years. A student can learn his mother tongue easier than other languages. The government should ensure that the Balochi language is taught in all government schools as a compulsory subject.

MALIK MOHAMMAD BALOCH
Panjgur