Abstract
UNESCO recommended in a report in 1953 that the mother tongue(s) should be adopted to teach kids in the early years of their education. However, even after more than seven decades, many countries, including Pakistan, have not taken this suggestion into consideration, resulting in an education system that is not beneficial for most of their population. In Pakistan’s case, the country has had inconsistent educational policies since its independence in August 1947, with frequent changes in language policies for education, particularly at the school level. This has led to the deterioration of the educational system. This is one of the reasons that Pakistan is among those countries that have the highest number of out-of-school kids. Despite numerous research reports and expert opinions favouring the importance of mother tongues in children’s learning and capacity building, there has been no national policy to include them in the education system to promote literacy and preserve endangered regional languages. It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan is not the only country that has a long history of ignoring the duty of preserving its linguistic diversity by introducing a multilingual education system. This research paper analyses the language policies of Pakistan and some other South Asian countries regarding education and proposes a framework for a multilingual education system. The proposed system would promote literacy rates in the country and help preserve endangered regional languages.
Presenters
Atif ButtAssistant Professor, Department of Urdu, Government MAO College Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES, LINGUISTIC DIVERSITY, LANGUAGE, EDUCATION, PAKISTAN, SOUTH ASIA
