Opinion Teaching Mandarin to the Sindhis

Govt said decision to teach Mandarin was taken because of Pak's warm ties to China

September 16, 2011 03:33 PM IST First published on: Sep 16, 2011 at 03:33 PM IST

The provincial government of Sindh,Pakistan,surprised every one this month by declaring that teaching Mandarin would be compulsory in its middle and high schools from 2013.

According to a policy statement in Karachi,all educational institutions in the province will have to teach Chinese language courses from class six. If many in Pakistan saw this as a political move,the provincial government made no secret of it. It says that the decision was taken because of Pakistan’s warm ties to China.

That learning Mandarin might give a leg up to young Pakistanis in a world where China has begun to loom so large seemed an after thought. In announcing the decision,Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq,the minister for education in the provincial government,said Pakistans trade,educational and other relations are growing with China everyday and now it is necessary for our younger generation to have command over their language.

The focus is largely bilateral. If there is one thing that Pakistanis of all political stripes agree on,it is the belief that China is an all-weather friend. Pakistani political leaders out do each other in proclaiming their fealty to the relationship with Beijing.

If the Pak army has had a partnership with China,which it claims is ‘higher than the Himalayas and deeper than the Arabian Sea’,President Asif Ali Zardari has outdone everyone. No other civilian leader of Pakistan has travelled so often to China — almost once every three months.

The decision to make Mandarin compulsory may have had something to do with Zardari,whose home base is Sindh. Those opposed to the proposal say the new ruling will increase the burden on the students,who already have to learn three languages – English,Urdu and Sindhi — as compulsory subjects. They add that it might be more sensible to make it an option.

When the Chinese premier Wen Jiabao came to India last December,India too announced its intention to promote the teaching of Mandarin in India. It is not clear if much progress has been made since.

Although China is a major neighbour and has had such an impact on the region,the Subcontinent has not devoted the necessary attention to promoting neither Mandarin nor expertise in understanding Chinese society.

For Islamabad,Beijing was such a close strategic partner that it did not have to invest much into learning about China. Delhis uncertain relations with Beijing for decades meant there was no political incentive to promote Mandarin.

While getting South Asian students to learn Mandarin is good idea,no one is betting that Pakistan and India will go about it in a sensible and purposeful manner.