English medium will push Pakistan into darkness: Jamaat-e-Islami

Lahore: The use of English as the medium of instruction from class one onwards in Pakistan`s Punjab province will push the coming generations into "darkness of illiteracy", the right-wing Jamaat-e-Islami has said. To the surprise of many, Jamaat-e-Islami chief Syed Munawwar Hasan has announced that his party will oppose the use of English as the medium of instruction in Punjab, a province of 90 million people. The provincial government recently announced that the medium of instruction from class one in public sector schools will be English. Hasan claimed the move was "a great injustice to the children as well as teachers, especially of rural areas". "The Punjab government of (Chief Minister) Shahbaz Sharif is pushing the coming generations into the darkness of illiteracy only to obtain loans from the International Monetary Fund and other financial institutions," he claimed. However, resident of Punjab have said it is not easy to understand how the coming generations would be pushed towards illiteracy by studying different subjects in English. Hasan further said: "In most countries, education is imparted in mother or national languages, and the Hamudur Rehman Commission during the Ayub Khan regime had also recommended primary education in Urdu, which was not implemented". He said the Jamaat-e-Islami had no objection to the teaching of English as a subject but its adoption as the medium of instruction has created problems for students and teachers. "We will launch a mass movement if the Punjab government goes ahead with its proposed plan," Hasan warned. PTI