THIS is apropos of the report ( March 22) that instead of moving towards achieving the envisaged target of 100 per cent literacy rate by 2015 Punjab has taken a reverse gear.

Expressing concern over the prevailing situation, Dr Allah Bakhsh Malik, Secretary of the Punjab Literacy Promotion Project (PLPP), has said “The highest number of illiterates reside in Punjab and this number is on the rise. In 2007-08, there were 3.4 million illiterates in Punjab and this number rose to 3.8 million in 2009-2010.”

While mentioning the factors behind this decline, he has probably overlooked the major factor for the apathetic attitude of the government towards introducing the mother tomgue as a compulsory subject and medium of instruction in primary classes.

It is an undeniable fact that mother tongues and regional languages have proved more helpful in enhancing the literacy rate the world over.

The PLPP secretary, however, said that his department was working on a plan for using the mother tongue for basic education, and he hoped it would be implemented at a later stage.

Surely the people of Punjab, who have been waiting for such a stage for almost 62 years, can wait longer, but what seems ridiculous is the period specified for basic education in the mother tongue, which will not be more than one-and-a-half years, as disclosed by the PLPP secretary.

In my opinion, this is an unrealistic approach towards making the people of Punjab literate. Literacy is judged globally on the basis of literacy in the mother language.

Hence, how can an individual or people of a certain region be called literate if they cannot read and write in their mother tongue?

TARIQ MAHMUD JATALA
Lahore