Thursday, April 18, 2013

Khowar as a compulsory subject introduced in Chitral schools

PESHAWAR, April 17: The students of government primary schools in Chitral will learn primers of Khowar, their mother tongue, in the ongoing academic year which started this month. The provincial Elementary and Secondary Education (E&SE) Department has introduced four regional languages – Hindko, Seraiki, Khowar and Kohistani – as compulsory subject in educational institutions from academic year 2013-14. Pashto was introduced as compulsory subject in the Pashtu-speaking areas of the province the previous year. It is for the first time that students of nursery classes would formally learn their respective mother languages in schools. “Under the government’s decision, we have started teaching the mother languages as compulsory subject from nursery classes and these will gradually be introduced in other classes,” E&SE Director Rafiq Khattak said. The decision of introducing mother languages as compulsory subject was taken by the previous Awami National Party-led provincial government in its cabinet meeting on Oct 5, 2011. According to the action plan, Pashto was being introduced as compulsory subject in grade-6 in Pashto speaking districts where it had already been medium of instructions at primary level, while in the remaining Pashto-speaking areas it was introduced from grade-1 to 6th from academic year 2012-13. The teaching of Hindko, Seraiki, Khowar and Kohistani are being started as compulsory subject from class-1 to 7th in areas where these languages are spoken from academic session 2013-14, according to the action plan. When contacted, Textbook Board, Peshawar, chairman Prof Himayatullah Khan told this correspondent that primers of the mother tongues for nursery classes had already been sent to the relevant district education offices as per their demand. He said that primers of Khowar language being spoken as first language in Chitral had been provided to the relevant district education office. Similarly, primers of Hindko have been provided to different districts, including Abbottabad, Haripur, Peshawar and Mansehra, where Hindko is spoken by a section of the population. The primers of Seraiki language spoken in Dera Ismail Khan and Tank have also been provided to the district education offices concerned, while primers of Kohistani language spoken in Kohistan district would be sent to the relevant education office on their demand, he said. Directorate of Curriculum and Teacher Education director Bashir Hussain Shah said that primers of mother tongues had been printed and curriculum of these languages for grade-1 already developed. He said that curricula for rest of the classes would be approved by end of June. “The primers of regional languages are developed with consensus among writers, poets and experts on the relevant languages,” Mr Shah said. Attaullah Khan, an educationist, said that introduction of mother tongue as compulsory subject in schools would make the students understand their regional culture, values, traditions, etc. He said that with the introduction of teaching regional language in schools it would be easy for students to read and write besides improving their listening and speaking capabilities.–Dawn

Thursday, April 4, 2013

A woman who wants to do something for Chitral

chitraltoday.net report CHITRAL, April 4, 2013: Despite all difficulties, a young Chitrali woman has challenged experienced politicians and a former dictator of the country by filing nomination papers for the National Assembly seat of Chitral. Asma Mehmood, a lawyer by profession, is also the contender for the provincial assembly seat of lower Chitral (PK-89). She hails from a small village called Suoch of the Terich valley in upper Chitral and has two elder brothers and one younger sister. She lives in her joint family, including parents, in Haripur. She belongs to the Majay family of Chitral. Ms Asma was born and brought up in Haripur as her father Laghal Khan worked in the National Rural Telecommunication Company (NRTC) in that city. She did her Matric from the Telecom Girls School and graduation from the Government Degree College Haripur. She obtained the bachelor of law degree from the Ayub Law College in 2006 and since then has been practicing law in Hariour, Abbottabad and Peshawar. Talking to chitraltoday.net, Ms Asma said though she was born and brought up outside Chitral she had an urge to do something for the backward area of Chitral where her relatives still lived. She said every year she also visited her home village in the upper Chitral. When asked if language would be a problem for her in communicating with the people, especially women of upper Chitral, during the electioneering, she said it would not, as she understood the language well and was able to convey her message through. She said that politicians born and bred in Chitral had done nothing for the area and those who lived outside Chitral had more love for their area and could do something for the development of the area. She said she wanted to make her political career in Chitral and would also be practicing law in the district. It may be noted that Begum Sher Wali Khan of Yarkhun valley was the first Chitrali woman who contested the election for the National Assembly seat of Chitral in 1988. However, she obtained only 1,423 votes. In that year, Nusrat Bhutto from Larkana won the election by bagging 32,812 votes. In the 1993, Begum Suleman Khan of the PPP also took part in the election for the National assembly seat and polled 15,765 votes but could not win the seat. Ms Asma is the fourth woman to take part in the national election in Chitral. Her decision to join politics has been welcomed by many people of Chitral as it would be a catalyst for other educated women to play their role in the national development.

Awesome and rugged

Awesome and rugged

Beauty of Chitral

Beauty of Chitral
Kishmanja, a beautiful village in Yarkhun valley

Lush green

Lush green

DIZG: threatened by floods

DIZG: threatened by floods

The legendary village of Ayun in Chitral

The legendary village of Ayun in Chitral
On way to Bumburet

Dizg, Yarkhun

Dizg, Yarkhun

About Me

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Village Dizg, Yarkhun valley, Chitral, Pakistan
I blog at http://chitraltoday.net (ChitralToday) about Chitral, its people, culture, traditions and issues. I have been writing about Chitral since 2000. Chitral is a scenic valley in the extreme north-west of Pakistan.