Urdu should be the medium of education

Outline:
1) Introduction to the thesis statement
2) Body
i) Quaid’s vision
ii) Minority of population speaks Urdu
iii) Urdu versus regional languages.
iv) English versus Urdu; English as the language of Science and Technology and communication.
v) Pro and counterexamples
vi) Hurdles in making Urdu as the official language
vii) Hurdles in adopting Urdu as the official language.
3) Conclusion.

The Supreme Court of Pakistan in its decision ordered the government to fulfill its constitutional obligation of making Urdu as the official language of Pakistan according to the article 251 of the constitution. The court decision makes it obligatory for the government to strictly enforce Urdu as the language of communication in all government institutions and offices. This decision will also make dignitaries liable to use the Urdu language in speeches on all national and international forums.  Apart from this, the government will have to make arrangements for making our national language as the medium of instructions in schools and other educational institutes. How far the court decision will be implemented and how far it will produce positive results for the common man is yet to be seen.

This debate on the adoption of Urdu as the official and national language dates back to the pre-partition era when most of the Muslims campaigning for the separate state were Urdu speaking of North India. This resulted in the adoption of Urdu as the national language when Pakistan was established but soon it raised a clash between the two languages; Urdu and Bengali. Quaid-e-Azam had to intervene himself in order to cool down the tensions between West and East Pakistan. This resulted in the cessation of hostilities temporarily but resurfaced again after the death of our founder.

Eventually, East Pakistan separated from Pakistan for many different reasons but of which one was the language. The riots of Sindhi speaking against the Urdu-speaking Muhajirs were another worst example of enmity created by language.  This confuses us whether Urdu can keep the country united by suppressing other or not? Quaid-E-Azam clearly said to the students in Decca University that Urdu will remain the national language and anyone who talks about other languages against Urdu is an enemy to Pakistan.  Should we stick to Quaid’s words or should we move with modern times? This needs some facts and intense debate.

Clearly, Urdu’s sphere of influence is increasing across the country but still, it is the language of the minority population, with only 7 to 8 percent people have Urdu as the mother tongue. In contrast to Urdu, 49 percent of our population speaks Punjabi, 12 percent speaks Pashto and 11 percent speaks Sindhi. This means that most of the people cannot understand Urdu properly.  So what is then the purpose of making it the official language if the majority cannot understand it?

The second important thing is related to the medium of instructions in schools. Experts believe that knowledge can be transmitted and learn best in the mother tongue but that has not been the case with our education, in which we impart education to children in Urdu. Some argue that Urdu cannot be as a subject and a way of national communication but not as a medium of education, how far this logic is true? It is an unsolved question.

The other major drawback of making Urdu the official language of our country is the lack of vocabulary in the Urdu language. English, on the other hand, is a vast language with numerous of terminologies which even cannot be translated into Urdu. English is called the language of Science and Technology and rightly so because it embodies all the knowledge of this sector that no one language holds. Especially the expansion of internet resources and the worldwide use of it make it mandatory for students to learn the English language to reach and get benefit from these resources. Without learning the English language one cannot even access the very basic internet, let alone taking advantage of the knowledge resources. English is also the language of world trade market. The age of digital marketing and internet learning needs the complete knowledge of English language otherwise, you will be left behind in the race to development.

This is a good argument to learn the English language to explore international markets but what Chinese people who without learning the English language are doing wonders. They are now the economic superpower and soon will be taking over America in terms of global might. But one thing should be kept in mind and that is their size and economic might. Pakistan is much a smaller country both in size and economy and we cannot dictate terms on the world level as Chinese can do. Better for us to learn English or be ready to be sidelined. One example of this is French people, who hate English people many times more than we hate but still, they learn English language and use it for good, following the proverb ‘Necessity is the mother of invention’.

These examples tell us that we should move towards adopting English as the official language but still, there are many hurdles in the path. First one is the lack of knowledge of teachers of English. 95 percent teachers even cannot spell and pronounce the very basic words. This shows the level of ignorance on the part of our teachers and also the rejection of the notion that English should be adopted as the medium of instruction. Apart from the teachers, students are also quite hesitant to learn the English language because it does not suit with overall culture and traditions. Children find it hard to speak and learn when they have even never heard a single word from their parents while in the cradle.

The other major hurdle is the lack of English language skills of the employees working in the offices. They find it hard to read when even a single page of simple English words, wasting a lot of time in comprehending and understanding English words instead of focusing on the work. Only 50 percent of our population is literate and that too cannot understand the English language. This is a dilemma for the majority population because all the utility bills and signs are printed in the English language.

Urdu is better in comparison with English because it will make it easier for the teachers to transmit knowledge and easy for students to comprehend it. This can drastically improve our education standards. Apart from this, it will be easy for officials to write and to understand and more importantly for the public to understand because the state is there to serve people and not to rule them. These arguments make it more likely that Urdu be adopted the national language but still, major hurdles exist.

As already discussed, it is the age of science and technology and without the English language, it is impossible to get a good grasp on them. One must go on with times to move on with the world otherwise, it will become hard to get along the world in the race to prosperity if the English language is not learned.

Diplomats and high officials must possess good English skills in all respects to bend favorable opinion towards them and if we want to convey our thoughts to the world we must understand the English language. For this purpose, English can be taught as a pure subject but that will not improve the logical and analytical skills which are an important ingredient for successful diplomacy.
The other major hurdle in adopting Urdu as the national language is the threat of sidelining of our students from the international community. Many of our students get scholarships and grants from foreign countries to study abroad but the lack of English skills will create additional problems for them apart from focusing on the study itself. The research papers and all the knowledge resources would be hard for them to tap.

Overall, the discussion express that both the languages have their own merits and demerits but one thing is clear that the importance of English level on the world level cannot be ruled out. I think we should go with a blend of both languages; making English as the medium of transferring knowledge of science and technology and Urdu as the source of national integration and to make it easy for the officials and public to understand.