Language Medium Dynamics in Pakistani Education: A Historical Analysis
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63062/tk/2k22a.13707Keywords:
Language Medium, Pakistan, Education, Punjab, Pashto, Sindhi, Siraiki, Baluchi, EnglishAbstract
Punjabi, Pashto, Sindhi, Siraiki, and Baluchi are Pakistan's main languages. Although Urdu is the national language, English is still spoken in significant areas like higher bureaucracy and the armed forces officer corps, a remnant of British colonialism. This manuscript examines Pakistan's language medium dispute regarding English-only schooling for the privileged before partition. An English-educated Anglicized elite was expected to maintain British rule in their own interests, strengthening the empire. Thus, most provinces taught the masses in Urdu, save Sind, where Sindhi was used. This method produced a cost-effective subordinate workforce. In modern Pakistan, the elite attend exclusive English-medium schools, whereas most other schools, especially in metropolitan Sind, have a large Urdu population and teach in Urdu. The indigenously educated proto-elite, mostly Urdu-trained, opposes this duality and wants Urdu as the medium of education. Their argument is that such a transition will help them rise in power, countering the current preference for English education.
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