Though the Punjab government gives students studying in government- run schools free books, most students have to buy the Urdu translations of math and science books as they have difficulty reading English.
“The books provided to me by the school are of no use to me because I cannot read in English,” said a 13-year-old student from Chakwal, Ahmed Ali, whose father bought him Urdu translations at the start of the year.
“Students in eight grade and below only have to buy Urdu translations of books for science and maths but nine and tenth graders have to buy four books- for maths, biology, physics and chemistry- from the market,” a teacher at a government school said.
Due to various reasons- such as bridging the widening gap between the standard of education in public and private sector schools- the Punjab government made all public schools English medium in 2011.
The phrase ‘English medium’ was added to the name of government schools on their main gate. This increased enrolment but hampered learning as many students could not even read in English. Therefore, the medium of instruction in the majority of these ‘English medium’ schools is still Urdu.
“We print 53 million books annually for students in public schools and these are provided free of cost,” Abdul Shakoor, director production of the Punjab Curriculum and Textbook Board told Dawn.
Printing these books cost Rs2.15 billion and most of these books are not even used as they are in English.
In Chakwal, which has been ranked 13th in a recent district education ranking by Alif Ailan, only two schools teach in English. The rest of the schools have divided their students into various sections so that those who can read in English are in section A and the rest in other sections.