When I heard that our ex-prime minister wanted to impose a unified curriculum in schools in 2020, I was intrigued. It contradicted Mills’ and Wilson’s theoretic argument, which revealed in the 1950s that the elite of a society purposefully designed an educational system in which a child from a disadvantaged home would remain poor. Although these theories are similar to Marx’s, I was interested to see if Khan was successful in breaking down elite boundaries.
My enthusiasm was dashed when the education ministry clarified that the uniformity regulation would only apply to government institutions and only at the primary level. This announcement left me with mixed feelings. When we look at the challenges that our society is facing, we see a very long list of societal issues. Corruption, nepotism, intolerance, economic downturn, political instability, division, and religious intolerance are just a few examples. When I investigate the core cause of all these ills, I learn that the culprit behind the preponderance of these difficulties is a terrible education system.
If just one sector is transformed, it has the potential to alter the course of history. Several book suggestions and research papers are attempting to assist policymakers in overcoming the issue, but the issue endures if issue fans are the issue generators. According to the aforementioned thinker, I am most concerned about the primary, one-and-only answer, which is the elimination of English-medium schooling.
Many languages are spoken in Pakistan, but despite being the official language, English is the least spoken. As a social science student, I’ve seen several pretty unusual inconsistencies in our culture. For example, our official documents are written in English, yet the majority of subordinate officials and the general public are unable to understand them.
If one goes to the courts, he will be surprised to see how many attorneys, police officers, and ordinary guys are looking for an English-literate man to explain the court’s verdict to them. Even judges study dictionaries to ensure correct word usage. The English language is one of the most significant impediments to a rural kid achieving his educational goals in school and college.
Instead of focusing on logical thinking and ability, a youngster born into a Punjabi, Sindhi, Balochi, or Pashtoon household struggles his entire life to learn several languages. This linguistic dilemma prevents him from reaching his full potential in science and other high-demand disciplines. When a Punjabi youngster is exposed to the outside world, he begins to favour Punjabi. He meets with the Arabic teacher later, when he is enrolled on religious education. When he begins school, he will confront a new difficulty in learning Urdu.
Once he has learned enough words to proceed, he realises that all of these languages are useless. One of the criteria used by society to assess his ability is his command of the English language. Many of my friends who excelled in mathematics and science dropped out of school after failing English subjects in matric. It also implies that we are losing thousands of mathematicians and scientists simply because their thoughts are incompatible with a language.
A language is only a means of accessing information; as such, it is not information as we understand it. This impression of dishonesty has placed certain difficulties in our path towards progress. In any of our cultures, an English speaker will be considered a scholar to speak on a given issue, even if he is illiterate according to educational measures. If we believe that English is an international language that we must all learn, we are falling victim to another elite-imposed myth.
There are several examples to refute this idea. Did they learn Arabic when Europe came into contact with the vast Islamic civilisation? No, they translated Arabic works into Latin and other regional languages to educate the people. Is English the foundation of the Chinese nation’s development? The issue then becomes, why do we? Why does our entire educational system centre on the concept of learning English, and why do we have such odd judgmental standards? The reply is in the first paragraph.
These tactics are indispensable to strengthen the already prevailing stratification in society. Otherwise, the gap between classes will narrow, and the poor will begin to think beyond the box. They will criticise political chivalry, the establishment’s meddling in administrative matters, bureaucrats’ ostentatious Vigos, and certain families’ religious rule. Once their minds are free of linguistic limitations, an ocean of information awaits them to quench their thirst.
Breaking over this barrier appears to be a Herculean effort. Otherwise, the constitution specifies that Urdu is Pakistan’s national language and that provisions for its usage for official and other purposes shall be made within fifteen years of the commencement day. Other additional high and supreme court judgements attempt to reduce the role of the English language in the lives of ordinary people, but all such efforts are futile. It will just take the formation of translation committees at the provincial level to translate all current work into local languages and ensure that it is taught in schools and universities.
As a result, instead of devoting their entire lives to learning languages, it will inspire our young to master new talents. What a tragedy that Pakistan’s most competitive exam is merely another scale to assess students’ language talents, and these students are picked and placed in higher positions to support this broken educational apparatus to perpetuate their hegemony. It will take time to understand the significance of local languages and how they shape our cultural assumptions.
Fighting these structural impediments demands tenacity and endurance. Only a wise and foresighted leader has the fortitude to transform a society’s basic intellectual foundation, putting his country on the path of progress and peace. According to Friedrich Nietzsche, the affluent have left nothing but God for the poor. This school system will continue to produce puppets rather than scholars, fueling bigotry and other societal ills.
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- English Medium Schooling: A Puppet Factory - 07/10/2022
