Language barrier
October 24, 2010
Education, the curriculum and the medium of teaching have all been the subject of innumerable reports over the last fifty years. The vast majority disappears unread and un-acted upon and our primary education system is in many ways as dysfunctional – or non-existent – as it was half a century ago. There has been much debate about the language our children should be taught in – with Urdu currently the primary language and those children who stay on beyond primary getting an indifferent education in English and Urdu. Currently, the government appears committed to moving towards all education being in English, a move that is unlikely to be popular or even possible given the parlous state of our teacher cohort. A report released on Thursday by the British Council on the subject of language and teaching makes startling reading, because it strongly advocates not teaching in English at the primary level, and that children are more likely to both attend school and stay at school longer if they are taught in their first language – the language they learned to speak from infancy.
Teaching a child in the language it speaks at home brings parents closer to the education process and allows them a participation in their child's education that is impossible if the language the child is taught in is 'foreign' – be it English, Urdu or any other. Children learn to read more quickly and easily in their mother-tongue because there are no barriers to comprehension, and in our deeply schismatic society all communities can feel equally respected if their children are educated in their native language. The report further states that children are likely to be more proficient in learning English later in their school careers as a foreign or second (third or fourth) language. A mere five per cent of people in Pakistan have access to education in their first language, and the seven major languages spoken here are the first languages for 85 per cent of the school population. Whilst education at the primary level in multiple languages is going to be logistically difficult, it is not impossible. Research globally has shown that the adoption of multiple languages within primary education strengthens the loyalty of ethnic minorities to the state. Given the ethnic tensions that exist and the way they have a tendency to erupt into violence, a remedy that may lower them in the long term is worthy of consideration. This is one report that deserves better than being consigned to the dustbin of ignorance.
Teaching a child in the language it speaks at home brings parents closer to the education process and allows them a participation in their child's education that is impossible if the language the child is taught in is 'foreign' – be it English, Urdu or any other. Children learn to read more quickly and easily in their mother-tongue because there are no barriers to comprehension, and in our deeply schismatic society all communities can feel equally respected if their children are educated in their native language. The report further states that children are likely to be more proficient in learning English later in their school careers as a foreign or second (third or fourth) language. A mere five per cent of people in Pakistan have access to education in their first language, and the seven major languages spoken here are the first languages for 85 per cent of the school population. Whilst education at the primary level in multiple languages is going to be logistically difficult, it is not impossible. Research globally has shown that the adoption of multiple languages within primary education strengthens the loyalty of ethnic minorities to the state. Given the ethnic tensions that exist and the way they have a tendency to erupt into violence, a remedy that may lower them in the long term is worthy of consideration. This is one report that deserves better than being consigned to the dustbin of ignorance.
