Paper Presented at National Seminar in New Delhi
In UP the provision of teaching Urdu at the primary stage is available in separate Urdu medium schools. Provision also exists that if enough number of Urdu-speaking children were not available arrangements can be made in the schools where the majority language may be the medium of instruction. It has been accepted from a practical point of view that there should be not less than forty students in the school, or ten students in the class for appointing a teacher to teach Urdu. The educational facilities for instruction through Urdu at secondary level are discouraged by the government authorities in UP, as the UP High School and Intermediate Board has decided not to grant permission for teaching through the medium of Urdu in 1952 at the high school level ... The decision not to grant permission for teaching through the medium of Urdu at the high school level is discriminatory, because it prevents the students from having a language of his choice as the first language (and) place the Urdu-speaking students in a disadvantageous position from the students whe comes with Hindi as first language from the first standard. In this paper, it is not possible to present a comprehensive account of problems of Urdu education for several reasons ...
The provision of educational facilities through Urdu in UP is shown in the table below. It provides data on number of schools, teachers and students for the academic year 1994-95.
A comparative analysis of the figures of the two levels of schools indicates that the percentage of drop out is alarmingly high. Only 14% of the total students joining Urdu primary schools take up Urdu as a medium or subject at Junior High School (JHS) level. In other words, a total drop out percentage at JHS level of those students who join Urdu primary schools is so high as 86%. In Urdu medium JHSs the drop out percentage goes up to 99.7%. it shows that only 0.83% students of Urdu medium primary schools continue their study at Urdu medium JHSs.
The figures indicate that despite the provision for appearing for the JHS level examination in the Urdu medium in the state, the total number of such students is very small. In the academic session of 1994-95, the total number of students opting for Urdu medium schools at JHS level goes down to 62,213 from 4,43,000 students in primary Urdu schools ... This requires further research in the following two important areas.
First it would be interesting to find out the language medium to which majority of Urdu-speaking children switch over at the JHS level. It would be further interesting to study their proficiency in the language which they adopt as their medium of instruction. The reasons for which the Urdu-speaking children switch over from their mother tongue to other language need to be studied. This would provide insight into attitudes of the Urdu-speakers towards their own mother tongue, its function and status in the state. Another area which deserves a detailed study is the level of bilingualism among Urdu speakers and its impact on their educational achievements ...
A linguistic study of Urdu education in UP reveals that the most significant pedagogical issue concerns the willingness and development of appropriate resources and implementing machinery on the part of the state government to make provision for education through minority languages of the region ... Thus the use of Urdu as medium of instruction can not be extended beyond the primary and JHS level under such constraints.
The second issue concerns the teaching of Urdu as a subject after the primary level ... The teaching of Urdu as a subject could be extended to majority linguistic group to promote linguistic integration. It will contribute to a greater understanding and tolerance on the part of both minority and majority linguistic groups.
The Urdu-speaking linguistic minorities in UP are not unaware of the importance of learning the majority language for educational and employment purposes ...
This is a healthy trend and adequate facilities should be provided by the language planners to meet the demands of the Urdu-speaking community ... The sociological and economical dimensions of Urdu need to be emphasized in the context of globalization to make Urdu education market oriented.
Urdu: Primary Schools, Teachers and Students in UP (1994-95)
Type of School N U M B E R
School Students Teachers
Primary Schools where Urdu is taught as a subject 5,581 1,75,000 6,082
Urdu medium Primary Schools 422 2,68,000
Recognized Maktabs 1,155
Aided Maktabs 814
Junior Urdu Schools, Teachers and Students in UP (1994-95)
Urdu medium Government Junior Schools 00
Urdu-medium Private Junior High Schools 18 224 73
Govt. Jr. High Schools where Urdu is taught as a subject 4,453
Private Junior High Schools where Urdu is taught as a subject 364 59,972 4,817