The Issues of linguistic Diversity in the Pakistan’s Education Policies

by Zubair Torwali

*The author is a senior research fellow with CRSS and the Executive Director of Idara Baraye Taleem-o-Taraqi (IBT) Bahrain Swat, KP, Pakistan.

*Bengali was given the status of National Language in 1952 after long protests and language movement in the East Pakistan by students, teachers and civil society.

Introduction

Being an outcome of the politics of religion and language Pakistan has still been struggling to devise an inclusive, equitable and pluralistic language policy in education. Nevertheless, the policy makers have so far crafted and experimented about nine education policies till the famous 18^th Amendment to the constitution in 2010.

In Pakistan, the official language policy demonstrates a strong commitment to Urdu in favour of regional languages but stays ambiguous regarding the relative status of Urdu and English. (Tamim, 2014, p. 9). A major challenge faced by the education policy makers in Pakistan was the issues of language and its central role in the process of learning and achievement of education pursuits. (Siddiqui, 2016, p. 133). Language remained a contested issue, even after the independence of the country, giving birth to a number of questions. (Siddiqui, Education Policies in Pakistan, 2016, p. 133).

Shahid Siddiqui, in his recently published book—Education Policies in Pakistan—by the Oxford University Press says that a number of questions such as: what should be the state language of the country? What would be the status of English? How would the provincial languages/ regional languages be represented in the policy? What language should be used as medium of instruction? And which language should be kept compulsory in teaching at the educational institutions have haunted Pakistan since its birth in 1947.

Education policies of Pakistan

Since its birth in 1947 Pakistan has tried nine different policy guidelines in education. Interestingly out of these five were crafted during the reign of various military dictators from Field Marshal Ayub Khan to General Musharraf.

The first policy document on education is Pakistan’s first Educational Conference report held in Nov 1947. Since then till 1959, soon after General Ayub took over the government, we see no comprehensive document on education. Before Ayub’s regime there were strikes in East Pakistan on the question of National Language. On Feb 21, 1952, at least seven students were killed in Dhaka when they were protesting against making Urdu the sole National Language of Pakistan. They demanded the status of the national language for Bangla. In 1954, the government approved Bangla as a national language along with Urdu; and this was also incorporated in the 1956 constitution but because of the political instability concrete measures could not be taken; and the people of East Pakistan could not be satisfied. The second document on education is the report of the Commission on Education or Sharif Report in 1959. The third policy on education came in 1970 when Pakistan was ruled by General Yahyah. The fourth education policy was designed in 1970 during the reign of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and after the separation of East Pakistan. When General Zia-ul-Haq snatched power rom Bhutto in 1977 he tried to change every thing, including the education policy. He announced a National Education Policy and Implementation Plan in 1979. His plan was to Islamize and Urdu-ize society. The next education policy came during Muhammad Nawaz Sharif’s first term as prime minister in 1992. This has nothing new except there was more focus on the Arabic language and Islamic studies. The eighth education policy was crafted during Muhammad Nawaz Sharif’s second term as prime minister. The last one education policy was the work of the Musharraf regime but it was presented by the PPP’s government in 2009.

Education policies in Pakistan (Siddiqui, 2016)

Ideology in Pakistan’s Education Policies

It is not surprising to see that all the education polices in Pakistan were greatly implanted with an Islamic rhetoric such as Islamic precepts, ideology and principles and all of them vehemently advocate changing the social and moral life of the citizens according to Islamic teachings.

1)Pakistan Educational Policy, 1947

1.  Education should be based on Islamic concept
2. Compulsory for students to learn the basic principles of their religion
3. Proper integration of spiritual, social and vocational elements in education

2)Commission on National Education, 1959

1.  National unity — national culture
2. Religious values — Islamic values

3)Proposals for a New Educational Policy, 1969

1.  An integrated and uniformed system of education based on Islamic precepts
2. Secular values rejected

4)The New Education Policy, 1970

1.  Education as a tool for the inculcation of Islamic values and national unity

5)Education Policy, 1972

1.  Preservation, promotion and practice of the basic ideology of Pakistan
2. Curricula should not contain anything repugnant or inconsistent with Islamic values

6)Education policy, 1979

1.  Islamization of educational system in Pakistan
2. Deep and abiding loyalty to Islam and Pakistan
3. Fostering a living spiritual and ideological consciousness in the students
4. Refashion society according to Islamic tenets

7)Education Policy, 1992

1.  Leaven the educational system with Islamic ethos and allow it to run through all its tributaries

8)Education Policy, 1998

1.  Make Quranic principles and Islamic practices an integral part of the curricula

9)Education Policy, 2009

1.  Creating a sense of Pakistani nationhood
2. Ideology of Islam forms the genesis of the State of Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Language(s) in the Educational Policies of Pakistan

Lets look at how these education policies dealt with the issue of language(s) in education.

1)Pakistan Educational Policy, 1947

1.  Urdu has shown extraordinary vitality and sensitivity both as an instrument of communication and as a vehicle for the expression of the subtlest shades of thought and the most ethereal flights of fancy”. (GoP, 1947, p. 11)
2. Urdu was maintained as lingua franca of the new country. “The facility with which it[Urdu] can borrow and assimilate words from foreign languages, its historic affiliations with Persian, Arabic, Sanskrit and English and its high creative output in prose and poetry constitute to my mind unassailable grounds for its establishment as the ‘lingua franca’ of Pakistan.” (GoP, 1947, p. 11)
3. English was deemed injurious as a medium of instruction but admitted its role as ‘an access to all the secrets of Western science and culture’. (GoP, 1947)
4. Role of the ‘provincial languages’ recognized. “we must provide the maximum scope of growth to our provincial languages note merely as media of instruction but also an instrument for the dissemination of the culture”. (GoP, 1947, p. 11)
5. The committee formed to decide the language issue suggested, ‘the question of medium of instruction should be left to each province to decide according to its requirements but Urdu should be the second compulsory language in schools’.
6. The committee further suggested that English should be retained as a compulsory language at the school stage. (GoP, 1947, p. 11)

2)Commission on National Education, 1959

1.  “Urdu and Bengali have now been officially declared to be the National Languages of Pakistan^* (GoP, 1959, p. 289)
2. The national language should gradually and progressively replace English as the medium of instruction at all levels. (GoP, 1959, p. 290)
3. English was, however, maintained as a compulsory subject from class VI onwards to the degree level.
4. A period of 15 years needed to replace English as the medium of instruction in a large number of subjects taught at the university level. (GoP, 1959, p. 295)

3)Proposals for a New Educational Policy, 1969

1.  The policy proposed to reduce the teaching of English by changing the medium of instruction at all levels of education to the national languages. (Siddiqui, 1969, p. 138)
2. It recommended that Urdu be used as official language in West Pakistan whereas Bengali be used as such in East Pakistan by 1974. (Siddiqui, 1969, p. 138)

4)The New Education Policy, 1970

1.  The criteria the policy (GoP, 1970, p. 18) gave included that the language selected as a medium of instruction should have the ability to (1) help students acquire knowledge as effortlessly as possible (2) communicate with clarity and objectively; and above all; (3) stimulate critical and creative thinking.

5)Education Policy, 1972-1980

1.  There was no section devoted to language issues in the 1972 policy. (Siddiqui, 2016, p. 139); and there were no directions given in the policy for the medium of instruction.
2. The policy adopted a position of benign neglect on the medium of instruction and made no reference to language. (Aly, 2007)

6)Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan

1. The National Language of Pakistan is Urdu, and arrangements shall be made for its being used for official and other purposes within fifteen years from the commencing day. (GoP, Artticle 251, 1973)
2. Subject to Article 251 any section of citizens having a distinct language, script or culture should have the right to preserve and promote the same and subject to law, establish institutions for that purpose. (GoP, Consitution of Pakistan, 1973)
3. Subject to clause (1), the English language may be used for official purpose until arrangements ar e made for its replacement Urdu. (GoP, 1973: 148)
4. Without prejudice to the status of National Language, a provincial assembly may by law prescribe measures for the teaching, promotion and use of a provincial language in addition to the National Language. (GoP, 1973: 148)

7)Education policy, 1979

1. Zia ul-Haq tried to Islamize education and vowed to promote the national language, Urdu, as medium of instruction. (Siddiqui, 2016:, p. 141)
2. Private schools were instructed to use Urdu as medium of instruction.
3. Urdu was given much importance by promoting it as a symbol of Muslim identity. (Siddiqui, 2016: 141)
4. An addition to a number of recommendations in favour of Urdu, the policy suggested that in schools where the national language is the medium of instruction, one of the regional languages will be taught from class III onwards.

8)Education Policy, 1992

1.  The medium of instruction as may be determined by the provinces shall be either the approved provincial language, the National Language, or English. (GoP, 1992: 16, p. 16)
2. At tertiary level, English may be the medium of instruction for science and technical subjects. (GoP, 1992:, p. 16)

9)Education Policy, 1998

1. The policy suggested making the teachings of Holy Quran and Islamiat (Islamic studies) compulsory.
2. It further recommended ‘encouraging and facilitating the learning of Arabic language’. (GoP, 1998:, p. 5)

10)Education Policy, 2009

1.  Much importance was given to English.
2.  English was also considered as one of the factors for educational inequality in Pakistan.
3. During General Musharraf’s regimes English was made a compulsory subject from KG 1 up to the higher levels. (Siddiqui, 2016: 146)
4. Some of the key recommendations (GoP, National Education Policy 2009, 2009: ) are:
5. Development of a comprehensive plan of action for implementing the English language policy it the shortest possible time
6. Paying particular attention to disadvantaged groups and regions lagging behind
7. Inclusion of English as subject, Urdu, one regional language, mathematics along with an integrated subject in the curriculum from class 1 onwards
8. Choice of medium of instruction given to the Provincial and Area Education Department up to class V
9. English as a medium of instruction for science and mathematics from class VI onwards
10. Option of teaching mathematics and science in English or Urdu/ official regional language for five years, and after five years teaching in these subjects would be in English
11. Promotion of opportunities for children from low socio-economic strata to learn English
12. Development of a comprehensive school language policy in consultation with provincial and area governments and other stakeholders

11)The 18^th Amendment 2010

1. In 2010 the parliament of Pakistan devolved a number of subjects to the provinces including education in all its spheres including curriculum, syllabus, planning, policy and standards of education.
2. The Amendment envisages a paradigm shift but so far the provinces could not avail the opportunity. In 2012, the ANP-led KPK government passed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Promotion of Regional Languages Authority Act, for the promotion of regional languages, including by “recommend[ing] to government a curriculum and syllabus for the gradual teaching of the regional languages spoken in the province”. For the 2013/2014 school year, it also introduced four other regional languages (Seraiki, Hindko, Kohistani and Khowar) to be taught in pre-primary classes where these are the mother tongue of a majority of children, aiming to make such language classes gradually compulsory throughout primary school. (International Crisis Group, 2014:, p. 7)

Conclusion

A critical review of these policies leads us to these conclusions:

1. The language issue was not given priority and it suffered in the absence of proper language planning
2. Urdu could not be made the official language despite the promises made multiple times
3. The social status of English could not be changed in Pakistan and it consistently remained a ‘language of power’ as it remained the language of the major power domains—the military, judiciary and bureaucracy
4. The policies oscillated between English, Urdu and the so called provincial/regional languages.
5. The so called provincial languages—Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi and Balochi—were also either ignored or considered inferior.
6. There is no mention of the other mother languages of Pakistan in these policies. They are more than 60 in Pakistan.
7. Two schools of thought prevail in Pakistan. The one is in favour of Urdu and the so-called provincial languages to be used as a medium of instruction and does not see any role for English. The other school thinks Urdu and the provincial languages insignificant and favours English in the global scenario.
8. The Bangla paranoia still haunts our policy makers and they continuously deny any role to regional and other languages. This is evident from the remarks by the Secretary of the Law, Justice and Human Rights. Recalling history (Dawn, 2014) he, said, the country had already suffered the East Pakistan tragedy in 1971 as a result of the decision to declare both Urdu and Bengali as national languages. Thus the national assembly’s standing committee on Law, Justice and Human Rights rejected an amendment bill wherein it was sought to declare 9 other languages in addition to Urdu as National Languages of Pakistan. And recently the same committee deferred the same bill again. (Dawn, 2016)

English is an important language used widely in the world in various domains of knowledge. To deny English is to refuse access to the various means of information and knowledge in the world. It must be there but not at the cost of local languages. Urdu has virtually become a lingua franca in Pakistan as a majority of Pakistanis can communicate in it. It is our national language, too. To reverse the status of Urdu would be foolish. But the status of English and Urdu must not be at the cost of more than sixty other languages that are the ‘mother languages’ of Pakistanis. All these languages need special attention as many of them are fast dying along with their history, culture and indigenous wisdom.

Pakistan needs a trilingual model wherein the native/mother language must be the medium of instruction at the primary level along with Urdu and English as subjects, while at the level of higher education the mother language must be included as a subject.

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