URDU AS MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION

URDU AS MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION

Points: Introduction – Arguments against Urdu – English is a foreign language – Conclusion.

Since the beginning of the British rule in India, English had been the state language and the medium of instruction from the secondary stage upward. But since the achievement of Pakistan there has been insistent pressure for making Urdu the medium of instruction in all stages of education. The majority of the people have been vocal for the fulfillment of their demand, but there have been eminent persons who objected to this on the grounds that higher education is impossible except through English and the English being an international language we cannot do without it. Thought there is some truth in the arguments, these are untenable for the following reasons.

First, Pakistan is a sovereign state. Urdu is our state language. It is derogatory to the prestige of Pakistan to adopt the state language of another country as the medium of instruction. Secondly it will create a sense of cultural inferiority among the people which is sure to affect very badly the development of our national languages. As a result English will dominate as the state language of Pakistan for ever. Lastly, a foreign language cannot enter directly into our heart. So there will be much waste of time and energy to acquire knowledge through English.

All the independent countries of the world are found to have adopted their mother tongue as the medium of instruction. English, no doubt, is a very rich language for which it has been accepted as an international one. But Urdu is also rich in their vocabulary and expression. When Hindi which was less popular than Urdu could he made the medium of instruction in India why could not a more powerful language be used as a medium of instruction in Pakistan.

It is argued that the mother tongue of all the Pakistanis is not the same. Hence we should continue English as the medium of instruction in our country. In fact, Urdu is almost the mother tongue of the people of Pakistan and can be learnt far more easily and quickly than English.

We should make a full scale campaign for promoting the cause of Urdu. Thirty-nine years time has already lapsed but still we are practically where we had been. This is because we are not sincere at heart, for we profess one thing but practice another. When we feel that English is a foreign language and should be replaced by Urdu, we should do this job now and here. We should, therefore, take a plunge and time will do the rest.