Standing committee to assess bill on teaching Arabic language in schools: Shafqat Mahmood

The Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mahmood said on Tuesday that the decision to introduce Arabic language subject in the schools in Federal capital will be sent for a review to the standing committee of the National Assembly.

The minister asserted that the teaching of Holy Quran has been made mandatory in schools, however, the decision to teach classical Arabic in place of conventional Arabic is under review for some time.

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Mahmood assured that government has no objection on teaching Arabic in schools. He added that Quranic teaching have already been taught in schools along with the Urdu transaltion.

"We will submit a thoroughly-designed bill to the House in this regard," he said. "Most members of the National Assembly have voted in favour of sending the bill to the standing committee for review."

Answering to the remarks of education minister, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal's MNA Abdul Akbar Chitrali said that languages keep growing; therefore, it would be better if ministers support the decision to include Arabic in the curriculum.

"Instead of sending it to the standing committee for review, the bill should be passed with immediate effect," he stressed

It is pertinent to note that earlier this month; the bill to make Arabic language compulsory in primary and secondary schools was approved in Senate.

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The bill was presented by PML-N’s Javed Abbasi, he said that the language should be taught from grade 1-5, while students from grade 6-11 should also learn Arabic grammar.

While speaking about the Arabic language and its importance, Abbasi said that it is the fifth popular language in the world as well as the official language of 25 countries.

Abbasi was also of the view that "If our people learn Arabic, more Pakistanis will get jobs in the Middle Eastern countries."