ANALYZING THE NEED OF DIGITAL TOOL FOR BRIDGING THE LANGUAGE GAP

This paper highlights the linguistic diversity in Pakistan as more than 70 languages are being spoken in Pakistan (Ethnologue, 2017), that is why there is no standardized medium of instruction(MOI) in Educational system other than Urdu, English, Sindhi and Pushto are being used. Another major issue is multiple curriculum that results in showing poor results of public schools in comparison with private schools. According to the Alif Ailaan District Education Ranking Report 2015, more than 50% of primary students cannot read a single sentence in English and Urdu. Islamabad capital territory has best education score but still 46% cannot read in English. English is used as medium of instruction in Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSSC) and in universities. Language shift is another major factor of dropout in Pakistan education.

A case study was carried out to identify problems of the students who shifted from English to Urdu MOI and vice versa. Qualitative approach was employed to interview different subject teachers from various schools up to primary level. According to the teachers such students who face MOI transition, suffer in their studies in long run if their need is not catered at the right time, that may also lead to low outcome level of reading, writing and comprehension. For this purpose, no digital tool has been developed in the right context. Utilizing the results from this research multiple patterns have been observed that there is an urgent need for such tool to bridge the language gap.

References:
[1] Alif Ailaan. (2015). Alif Ailaan Pakistan District Education Rankings 2015
[2] Ethnologue. (2017). Pakistan. [online] Available at: https://www.ethnologue.com/country/PK [Accessed 30 Sep. 2017].
[3] Imtiaz, S. 1 Factors of Drop Out at Primary Schools Level: Case studies from the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Faculty of Focal Science.