Private Schools Get Final Warning to Teach Sindhi as Compulsory Subject in O-Levels

Sindh Education and Literacy Department (SELD) has written the final letter to private schools across the province, warning them to list Sindhi as a compulsory subject in the curriculum of O-levels.

In an official letter, SELD has asked the Country Director Cambridge Assessment International Education (CAIE) Pakistan and British Council Pakistan to include “Sindhi” as a compulsory subject. SELD has made this demand in the light of existing laws, rules, and a joint resolution of the Sindh Assembly.

According to the letter, Sindh is a multilingual province where both Urdu and Sindhi languages are spoken and taught in public and private schools. Sindhi was declared a compulsory subject under Sindh (Teaching, Promotion and Use of Sindhi Language) Act 1972, Amendment Act 1990, Sindh Private Educational Institutions (Regulation and Control) Ordinance 2001, Act 2003, Rules 2005, and a resolution passed by the provincial assembly on 17 February 2010.

However, private schools affiliated with CAIE have not yet included Sindhi in their curriculum as a compulsory subject despite a number of laws, rules, and resolutions declaring it a compulsory subject, the letter added.

All private schools are required to sign an undertaking form, pledging to obey the laws, rules, and resolutions of the provincial government, the letter stated, concluding that it is incumbent upon the private schools affiliated with CAIE to follow the law of the province.

Speaking on the matter, Education Minister Sindh, Syed Sardar Shah, said that the provincial government has time and again asked CAIE-affiliated institutes to include Sindhi as a compulsory subject.

However, CAIE-affiliated institutes continue to violate the directives of the provincial government, the Minister stated, adding that the time has come to take strict action against the institutes found in violation of the province’s laws, and rules.