Pakistan's insistence on imposing Arabic will 'deteriorate achievement levels', says expert

Despite nearly half of its population speaking the non-compulsory language Punjabi, Pakistan seems determined on forcing students to learn Arabic, which will not only deteriorate their achievement levels but also detach their roots from the local cultures and diversity of the country, according to an Islamabad-based physicist and writer.

According to Dawn, in Islamabad schools, every child shall henceforth be compelled to study Arabic language from Grade 1 to Grade 5. Post that, the student shall learn Arabic grammar from Grade 6 to Grade 12. By unmous vote, that's what the Senate of Pakistan has decided.

The Senate recently passed a bill providing for compulsory teaching of Arabic in all educational institutions.

In Pakistan however, considering that 44 per cent of the population speaks Punjabi, the Senate has unmously decided that children would force children across the country to learn "true subservience to the Arabs."

Questions are also emerging whether Prime Minister Imran Khan knows any Arabic with experts adding that Khan is only appeasing the fundamentalists.

The move to make Arabic mandatory might claim to enhance the job capabilities of students, but in reality, it is likely to prove ineffective and seems more of a tactic of complete subservience to the Arab nations.

Pervez Hoodbhoy, an Islamabad-based physicist and writer, said that the bill claimed that proficiency in Arabic will "broaden the employment and business opportunities for the citizens of Pakistan" in rich Arab countries but the attraction to Arab oil wealth is understandable and has long been pursued, this reason is weak."

In his article for Dwn, Hoodbhoy said, "Just look at who gets invited to GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries. Westerners having zero familiarity with Arabic but high expertise are most sought after. Indians are a distant second, getting only about 10 per cent of high-level jobs with the rest performing menial and unskilled construction tasks. Pakists standstill further below with only 3 per cent at higher levels."

"With the Pakist schoolchild now to be burdened with learning yet another language, achievement levels will further deteriorate. If the Pakist job seeker could use his school-learned Arabic to communicate with Arabs, would it improve matters? This is unlikely," the author wrote.

He wrote further that for the boy now in an Islamabad school compelled to learn classical Arabic, communication with Arabs in their Arabic will not be easy. "In fact, the poor fellow will be quite at sea."

The author lambasted the bill sponsors stating that they are not aware that the bill sponsors are aware that the Quran has been translated into major languages.

"The bill claims that school-taught Arabic will enable students to understand the Holy Quran better and so become better Muslims. Are the bill's sponsors not aware that, beginning with Persian in the 10th century, the Quran has undergone translation into all major languages," he wrote.

"While some chase such delusions, others nervously search for their civilisational roots in some faraway land -- Saudi Arabia earlier and now Turkey. Thus quite a few are drawn to Arabic. But curiously, Arabs show no interest in reviving Arabic," Hoodbhoy wrote in his article for Dawn.

He added that in forcing kids to learn Arabic, "all those sitting in Pakistan's Senate -- with just a single exception -- forgot that they are Pakists first and that Pakistan was made for Pakists."

( With inputs from ANI )