by ZUBEIDA MUSTAFA
Since an education emergency was declared in Pakistan — for the second time — education has entered the public discourse with a bang. Seminars are being held frequently while the media has been addressing the issue much more than before. But nothing is changing on the ground. In this bleak scenario, comes a heartwarming announcement.
Baela Raza Jamil, the dynamic CEO of Idara-i-Taaleem-o-Agahi (ITA) has been awarded the Global Education Medal for the Asian region. It is to Baela’s credit that she is one of the rare ones in the education sector in Pakistan who has walked the talk and her undertakings have had an impact on millions.
She launched the Pakistan Learning Festival that has been an informal learning experience for thousands of children since 2011. She set up ASER (Pakistan) in 2008 to test children’s learning outcome all over the country. Of late, she has made her debut as a publisher of children’s books. What is important is her inclusive approach vis-à-vis the indigenous languages in her scheme of things.
It is unfortunate that Baela’s recommendations on various educational problems have failed to move our policymakers with whom she has constantly engaged. An issue that has bothered me for decades now — Baela understands my concern — is that of the language of education. It appears that government, society, educationists, school managers and even parents have joined hands to ‘tyrannise’ the child and sacrifice the joys of childhood at the ‘altar of the English language’.
There is something seriously wrong with our hybrid pedagogy.
Some government functionaries and academics now discreetly concede that an overwhelming majority of teachers are not proficient in English and that affects their pedagogic performance. Yet no initiative has been taken to change the ambivalent language policy that is in place.
Neither is there any advocacy campaign to create awareness of the stupidity of imposing the English language on young children in the initial phase of their schooling. Not being familiar with it they are overawed by it. If the mother tongue or the language of the environment is used in early childhood and a few years of primary education, children will find school to be a friendly and welcoming place. The transition to another language will be painless when the change-over is gradual and takes place at an appropriate stage when the student is psychologically and mentally ready for it.
There is something seriously wrong with the hybrid pedagogy which allows the teacher to speak in Urdu, while the books are in English, and the students are expected to speak, read and write in English. This pattern will continue until the language factor is taken into account. It may be added that the child will be dumbed and will rote learn and never be able to think critically.
The fact is that we are regressing. Until last year, Sindh had, relatively speaking, a sane language in education policy: the medium of instruction in all public sector schools was Sindhi and Urdu in areas inhabited by Sindhi and Urdu speakers respectively. Each community learned the other’s language as a compulsory second language. The private schools, however, were inadvisably left to their own devices.
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