By Uzma Zafar
I will say back in the good old days, and yeah, they were literally good old days I must say, I was privileged enough to study in an English-medium private school. My parents had studied in government schools and colleges as there were no private institutions available at that time. Though they did not possess the accent of English like most of us do today, but they were never full of complexes. In fact they were contented the way they were. However, they still opted for their offsprings for a better education and those who could afford, chose the private institutions with English medium which were still just sprouting up at that time, back in the 80’s.
We studied English and Urdu both. I admit that English was our better part but Urdu was no less. We used to do extensive Urdu reading, individually and collectively. However, after all these years, if we can only speak well in the language and not produce good writing in the same is only because where we practiced English in every aspect of our daily lives all these years, we never felt the need to use Urdu anywhere in reading or writing. Our schooling was nevertheless sound.
But then, as we reached matric, though our first priority was O levels of course, but even then those of us who, for one reason or the other, got stuck up in Matric, the curriculum was the same for all mediums and it was pathetic. Not only the books were the same that our grand parents and their grand parents had been studying but the English was also too simple. So down the drain went our education from there to the college level. The only sound education, I must say, was, that we got till 8th! So I need not say that the standard of education of the Urdu Medium was never good!
Our teachers were never allowed to enter the examination hall. They waited for us outside the hall till we completed our board exams but on the other hand, the teachers of Urdu Medium and in fact, government school students, could barge right in the examination hall to assist them and wish their students luck! Not only this, the system has never been fair with the English Medium. The board examiners have always been those from Urdu Medium schools and they, having a grudge with us, the English Mediums, have always been favouring the Urdu Medium students and no one can deny it, in marking and everywhere!
Mr. Prime Minister, we are same nation for whom you were a hero even in our childhood. We sold the raffle tickets for Shaukat Khanum Hospital door-to-door and there was a competition, in fact, amongst us, for selling more and more ones so that we can shake hands with you and have certificates right from your hands. You were our hero even when the elections came and even those of us like me, who had never had faith in the system, put faith in you and your party and got up and casted their vote for the first time as we thought that finally we have got someone now who is highly educated and would understand our issues, but sorry sir, with this Single National Curriculum, you have really disappointed the privileged lot who can afford quality education as the government schools never gave it in the first place!
The need was to formulate a standardized education where you could elevate the standard of the Urdu Medium schools. Urdu is our national language, fine, but we can all learn it from home also. But what would we do if we go to any other side of the world? Would our Urdu help over there? Why do you want to promote just one language and ruin the overall base of little kids? Why can’t you improve the standard of Urdu Medium and government schools for that matter? It was never between private and government schools. It was never between English and Urdu mediums. But it was always the pathetic standard of English that was taught at government schools.
You would have fixed that, improved the studies at government schools, that would have fixed the entire society and then, there would have been no status quos whatsoever but by degrading the standard of education at English medium schools, you are literally producing educated illiterates. Now no matter whatever the medium, O levels is a far cry for any student whatsoever. You have ruined the very base of our society! A child who has studied all his life concepts in English like Environmental Pollution for instance, what good is he going to get by studying ‘MaholiatiAloodgi’?PlzMr.President, what’s the use of private schools and paying so much fees to the English mediums when our kids have no future! It is a very disappointing step from your end sir! Like your precedents, you too have done nothing but facilitated the rusty Urdu Medium culture, enforcing it down our kids’ throats too. Our parents had no choice but when they did, they put us in the mediums they thought were better than theirs and of course the English Medium remained better as it kept changing every year unlike that of the government schools. This Single National Curriculum is again facilitating no one and I repeat, no one at all! It is high time that the policy heads in the government stop playing with the budding minds! We all are already pretty tense of a host of issues including the fourth wave of corona. Is it expected that the Urdu Mediums and the English Mediums, both stop producing English fluent kids to make it even! Well, this can never be even! Improve the standard of the government schools and leave the private, Englsh Medium schools on their own and give us, parents the choice for our kids that our parents and grand parents and their grand parents never had for themselves! Make quality education affordable for all segments of society instead of degrading the quality education where present! Only then we would say that it is a Single National Curriculum! Otherwise, it is just a wastage altogether!
