With Punjab education department set to introduce English as a medium of instruction in 2,750 state-run schools, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Thursday termed the Congress government’s decision as ‘an anti-Punjab and anti-Punjabi step’.
In a statement, SAD spokesperson Daljit Singh Cheema said this step would undermine the prospects of Punjabi language in the very state where it enjoyed the status of official language.
Cheema said mother tongue plays a great role in human development and depriving young minds from enjoying the privilege of learning in Punjabi language, the Congress government is doing the opposite.”I wonder about the wisdom of Congress government which assumes that the changing of just the medium of instruction would result in improving the quality of education in the state,” he added.
Criticising the unnecessary haste being shown by the state government for starting English medium classes in 400 schools in first phase, the SAD leader said that it had not hired a single English teacher for this purpose.