What should be the language of instruction at the elementary, middle and possibly high school levels in Pakistan?

This question has been debated far too long. It is about time we took action and did the right thing. Without any further delay, we should start schooling children in each province using their mother language as the language of instruction in classrooms.

Expert opinions and well-documented statistics soundly support the lasting positive results of teaching in one’s mother tongue (‘The language enigma’ , Sept 2).

The draft document posted at the Ministry of Education’s website shows a relatively poor performance by children in lower school grades of our present school system.

Now, as part of the next education policy, there are proposals and plans for setting up model schools in each province. But why not also start model schools where classroom instruction is given in the respective local provincial language.

For the sake of fairness, there should be similar facilities for both types of model schools. At the end of a prescribed period of reasonable length a team of impartial experts should be able to compare the results.

We have nothing to lose by conducting such an experiment. Let the children speak for their literacy and future themselves.

DR MUHAMMED A. SHAHID