LAHORE: Punjab Education Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan has said the government has decided to do away with English as a medium for instruction from classes 1-3 after realising students can learn better in their mother and local languages.
The change will be implemented from the next academic session beginning April 1. The minister was responding to questions at the launch of a documentary on roadmap of education by UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) Special Representative on Education in Pakistan Sir Michael Barber on Friday. The venue was Punjab University’s Centre for Undergraduate Study Al-Raazi Hall. The documentary highlighted problems related to student enrolment, dropout rate, teachers’ performance and attendance among other issues.
Khan said the Punjab government had taken the decision on the basis of British Council’s Punjab Education and English Language Initiative report.
Answering a question regarding conflicting figures of out-of-school children and those being enrolled, Sir Barber admitted it was “confusing”, adding there had been no census in Pakistan since 1998. He said the lowest estimates stated there were 25 million school going-age children in Punjab, while, according to the highest estimates. the number was over 32 million. Sir Barber said the Punjab government had implemented the education roadmap and got 1.5 to two million children enrolled.
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