Mother tongue and curricula
THIS is in response to some letters that appeared in newspapers in support of the mother tongue as a medium of instruction. It is really disappointing that advocates of this idea forget some hard facts.
First, are regional languages developed to a level that a complete and comprehensive curriculum could be created out of such languages?
Second, up to which level will the students who opt for mother tongue study in their mother tongue?
Third, will these languages be able to support their studies in the local or higher education in universities?
According to a survey, out of 65 languages spoken in Pakistan, 27 are already on the verge of extinction. Languages become extinct during the natural process of evolution.
All such weak languages which fail to keep pace with the more vibrant and rich languages just fade away into history.
Urdu’s strength in surviving and prospering lies in its ability to absorb and adopt words from other languages.
It has acquired the present status by passing through a natural evolutionary process.
This is the reason that Urdu is spoken, understood, written and taught easily in every part of not only in Pakistan but in the Indian parts of eastern Punjab, central India, Hyderabad, and Bihar.
It will be interesting for some people to know that Urdu is the ‘second official language’ in the Indian province of Bihar.
However, I agree with the idea that English teaching should start at least at the primary level.
ABID MAHMUD ANSARI
Islamabad
On my recent trip to India I felt that Urdu is dying but Hindi is developing. The Hindi was almost 60 % Urdu so there is still chance that Roman Urdu will flourish.
Thought to share… we in India study in regional languages till 12th standard. And in college if your specialization is languages.
I thought it is always unfair to compel anyone to study in a language which is not his/her
Mother tongue.
Unfortunately URDU and HINDI speaking people have a chauvinistic mindset..!
Urdu originated in Lucknow so it will be the most spoken language there always
not just Bihar in many other states also it is second language, including Delhi, UP, jharkhand (Ranchi),Maharashtra (Mumbai) and every state has a Urdu Academy………..there are thousands of Urdu Medium schools allover India……
Urdu, you mean a dialect of Hindi.
I half agree with you. There are Urdu Medium schools all over India but these are not in thousands if you do not include madressahs. While Madressahs mainly impart religious/islamic education, urdu becomes a necessity because most islamic historical literature is in Urdu. Urdu is one of the beautiful languages of India and we have produced some of the bigggest names in Urdu poetry, shayari and all sorts of literary works.
The supporters of mother tongue have limited approach, their thinking pushing the country into backwardness. No language and nation came from sky over a precise land of the earth. After evolution of man people gradually migrated in search of their food and living. Due to geographical and environmental conditions dialect gradually changed. Urdu is the modified version of Sindhi, Sindhi is a mixture of Prakirti, Arabic, Persian and other Indian languages. But nothing will remain as it is in this universe. There is change everywhere. Should accept reality.