The burden of education

This refers to the letter, ‘The language puzzle’ (April 8) by Yashaullah Soomro. It was really surprising to learn that the Sindh government has decided to introduce Chinese for students from grade VI. The writer’s apprehensions are true when he says, “Already, students are in a quandary. They are neither proficient in Urdu nor English.” Now they have to learn Chinese too that has around 40,000 to 80,000 characters.
It seems that we are heading nowhere as far as education is concerned. Just look at the size of a school bag of a student of grade II or III. By seeing the donkey-load of books – which poor students have to carry – gives an impression that these students were going to write a thesis. Think of those children who have to carry these heavy bags to the fourth floor of an apartment. We have made education a joke in our country. As if that was not enough we have added a new language for students to learn.
Air-Cdre (r) Azfar A Khan
Rawalpindi