Sindhi to be compulsory subject in schools

'Sindhi language' is once again being emphasized as a compulsory subject in the Cambridge system of education by the Sindh Education Department.

The additional director of registration, Rafia Javed, wrote to the country director of the Cambridge International Examinations (CIE), Islamabad, and the director of British Council, requesting them to include Sindhi in O' level GCE as soon as possible based on the existing laws, rules and a joint resolution adopted by the Sindh assembly.

Sindh is a multilingual province, where Urdu and Sindhi are spoken and taught in schools affiliated with the Sindhi Boards. The Sindh (Teaching, Promotion, and Use of Sindhi Language) Act 1972, the amendment Act 1990, and the resolution passed by the provincial assembly on February 17, 2010, stipulate that Sindhi will be taught in all government and private schools following the Matric education system from classes III to IX.

The letter goes on to state that private schools running under the Cambridge system of education have not yet included Sindhi language in their syllabus as well as in the examination of grade IX and XI. According to the Sindh Private Educational Institutions (regulation and control) Ordinance 2001, the Sindh Act 2003 and the Sindh Education Rules 2005, Sindhi language teaching is mandatory.

As part of the letter, all educational institutions that have signed the undertaking form to obey all provincial laws and rules are also listed.

"At the time of registration of an institution, it shall ensure teaching of the Sindhi language in accordance with the existing law and rules," the law and rules said.

In the letter, Ms. Javed has mentioned the population of Sindhi speaking people which is “Nearly 36 million which is 18.18% of the total population of Pakistan. The Sindhi language is also spoken in various areas of Pakistan including Sadiqabad, Rahimyar Khan, Rajanpur of Punjab, Lasbela, Sibbi, Qallat, Quetta of Balochistan where more than 0.30 million Sindhi speaking people are residing. It would be unfair if the Cambridge Education Board does not manage to include Sindhi as a subject in the syllabus.”

According to Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Shah, the government has written to private schools many times, but most of them ignore the directives. He has emphasized schools that ignore government orders must be punished. Adding that Cambridge system schools and others must hire Sindhi teachers.

Furthermore, he stated that Sindh is a civilization that dates back 7,000 years, and during the British rule, Sindhi was not only declared the official language of the province, but became a mandatory language for all government employees. As a result, nearly all British officers learned Sindhi. How could private educational institutions ignore that?