KARACHI: THE Provincial Education Minister, Mr. Dur Mohammad Usto, announced yesterday [June 2] that Urdu will be made compulsory for Sindhis and Sindhi for the Urdu-speaking students in the Sind Province from Class IV level next year. He appealed to all Urdu-speaking inhabitants of Sind not to have doubts or misconceptions about the adoption of Sindhi as the official language of the province.

He said Urdu as the national language could not have any higher status than it already enjoyed today. Referring to the adoption of Urdu as the official language in the three provinces of Pakistan, the Minister said that they had no alternative as their own regional languages were not fully developed. He declared that Sindhi is a fully developed language worthy of becoming the official language of the province. It is also as old as the Sindhi culture and it flourished even at the time of Mohammad Bin Qasim.

[Meanwhile, Mr. Usto] said … that … Rs. 368 crores would be required for complete … nationalisation of education in … Sind alone. The Provincial Minister told a Press conference that complete nationalisation of education would take eight years under a phased programme.

Published in Dawn, June 3rd, 2022