Should Science and Technology Education in Pakistan be solely taught in Urdu?

It is generally perceived that in order to make original contribution to Science and Technology the basic knowledge must be the National language of the country. This is evidenced by huge contributions to Science and Technology by countries like Germany, Holland, France, Russia, England, Poland, Austria, Italy, China, and Japan. Pakistan's and India's Educational Framework was unfortunately left behind as a vestige of the Colonial rule. English was adopted in these countries as the language of Science and Technology simply as an expedient to avoid conflict between Urdu and Hindi with the other Provincial languages. And also because it was easier to use the English language text books left by the British than to spend time and money in translating them. As a result both India and Pakistan became borrowers and users of knowledge for a while without actually absorbing any of it into the fabric of their indigent knowledge base. This is the reason why we are having such difficulty producing real Ph. D level institutions. And this is the primary reason why foreign Ph. D graduates settled in Pakistan cannot seem to get any real research institution estabilished inspite of generous government funding.

It is obvious that where knowledge is absorbed into the local knowledge base it has a better chance of developing and growing. For example the gun copying industry in the tribal areas, the surgical tools and cutlery industry in Gujranwalla and the small scale electrical appliance industry also in Gujranwalla requires no dependance on English based knowledge for its transmission and dissemination and has flourished tremendously and has grown into a hugely successful small scale industry. And most of all has been resilient to political and economic upheavels.

Will it be worth while to invest time and money at this juncture of Pakistan to change the medium of education in Science and Technology institutions to Urdu? Please respond.

Views: 140

Reply to This

Pre-Paid Legal


Twitter Feed

    follow me on Twitter

    Sponsored Links

    South Asia Investor Review
    Investor Information Blog

    Haq's Musings
    Riaz Haq's Current Affairs Blog

    Please Bookmark This Page!




    Blog Posts

    EU-India Trade Deal: "Uncapped" Mass Migration of Indians?

    The European Union (EU) and India have recently agreed to a trade deal which includes an MOU to allow “an uncapped mobility for Indian students”, according to officials, allowing Indians greater ease to travel, study and work across EU states. India's largest and most valuable export to the world is its people who last year sent $135 billion in remittances to their home country. Going by the numbers, the Indian economy is a tiny fraction of the European Union economy. Indians make up 17.8%…

    Continue

    Posted by Riaz Haq on January 28, 2026 at 11:00am — 8 Comments

    Independent Economists Expose Modi's Fake GDP

    Ruling politicians in New Delhi continue to hype their country's economic growth even as the Indian currency hits new lows against the US dollar, corporate profits fall, electrical power demand slows, domestic savings and investment rates decline and foreign capital flees Indian markets. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has questioned India's GDP and independent economists…

    Continue

    Posted by Riaz Haq on January 25, 2026 at 4:30pm — 10 Comments

    © 2026   Created by Riaz Haq.   Powered by

    Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service