Bhopal, 15 March 2022: Citing a survey wherein 98 percent
government school teachers do not send their offspring to Urdu medium schools in
the wake of lack of opportunities widely perceived, Manoj Kumar Shrivastava,
Additional Chief Secretary (retired) to the government of Madhya Pradesh, has called for “introspection” for the promotion of Urdu medium education
across the country.
“It is of no use crying for the promotion
of Urdu language. The fact of the matter is that only 4.2 percent of family
send their children to Urdu medium schools as per the Census 2011. We really
need to introspect ourselves,” Mr. Shrivastava said here on Monday at the inaugural
session of the two-day national seminar (14-15 March 2022) on ‘NEP 2020: Role of Urdu Medium
Education in Achieving National Development Goals’.
The national seminar has been jointly
organized by MANUU Regional Centre and College of Teacher Education-Bhopal. It
has been sponsored by the National
Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL), an autonomous body under
the Ministry of Education which was set up to promote, develop and propagate Urdu
language across the country.
Mr. Shrivastava quoted a survey conducted
by the government of Karnataka wherein it was reported that 98 percent government
school teachers do not send their children to Urdu medium schools.
Hailing from Bhopal, Mr. Shrivastava had received
his early education in a Hindi medium government school. He categorically said
that Hindi as well as Sanskrit languages are also facing the same situation as
thus creates a space for the three languages – Urdu, Hindi & Sanskrit—to
come together and make a common voice for their promotion.
Addressing
the audiences comprising intellectuals, teacher educators, research scholars as
well as students, Mr. Shrivastava urged the pupil, who receive their education
in Urdu medium schools and colleges, to come out of this inferiority complex,
realize their potentials, do hard work and achieve what they deserve for.
Talking about the National Education Policy
(NEP) 2020, he said what openings are there in the new policy need to be
identified and then utilized to the maximum extent for the betterment of Urdu
language and Urdu medium education.
Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Halim Khan,
Ex-Chairman of Madhya Pradesh Madarsa Board, welcomed the National Education
Policy 2020. He said Urdu language has huge potential which can contribute to
the nation building. He said the new policy supports teaching 1-5 students
through their mother tongue. “Now, it is our responsibility to provide quality
education through Urdu medium. Students coming to Urdu medium schools are
equally good; they only need orientation and grooming,” he opined.
Prof. Khan also lauded the efforts and contributions
by Manoj Srivastava for the promotion of Urdu language, particularly for the
allotment of land for College of Teacher Education, Bhopal.
In his welcome address, Prof. Ahsan,
Convener of the National Seminar, expressed concern over the fact that nearly
50 percent primary schools in India do not have sufficient number of teachers
which makes it difficult to achieve National Development Goals.
Prof. Ahsan said
the university (Maulana Azad National Urdu University, Hyderabad) has approved
to set up two hostels of 300 beds– one for boys (150 beds) and the other for
girls (150 beds) at the newly built campus of College of Teacher
Education-Bhopal.
Chief guest Prof. A.R. Fatihi from Aligarh
Muslim University, highlighted the importance of various aspects of language.
Lauding the National Education Policy 2020, he stated that there is a need to
honestly work and implement the provisions made in the new policy which can
yield good results in the time to come.
The vote of
thanks was given by Principal of MANUU College of Teacher Education-Bhopal Prof.
Noushad Husain. He is also the Coordinator of the National Seminar. He stated
that paper presentations will be done in both offline as well as online mode.
After the
inaugural session of the national seminar was over, the first technical session
started. It was presided by Prof. Sajid
Jamal from Aligarh Muslim University.
Indian monuments paintings were presented
to the guests. The paintings were done by Mr. Saifuddin Ansari, Assistant
Professor at MANUU College of Teacher Education, Bhopal. Prior to joining
MANUU, he had displayed his artwork in Germany, China and Pakistan which were globally
appreciated. The technical support was given by Mr. Shabbir Ahmed, Syed Md.
Kahful Wara, and Dr. Tarannum Khan.