Islamabad - The three-day policy dialogue on language held in Higher Education Commission (HEC) yesterday concluded where different focused group formulated recommendations for national policy on languages in the country.
The dialogue was hosted by Air University in collaboration with HEC and national and international scholars from academia, media, law, banking, aviation, governmental organizations and other institutions participated in it.
Speaking on the occasion, Chairman HEC Dr Mukhtar Ahmed appreciated the Air University for organizing this dialogue at a right time when the government is gradually moving towards the use of Urdu as official language.
“We should make concerted efforts for promotion of Urdu and regional languages,” he said. The conversion to Urdu as official language should be made step by step and for that this type of academic discourse is very significant,” said Dr Mukhtar Ahmed.
The chairman said that different organizations that are already in place for development of languages should come together for preservation of regional languages and development of a comprehensive national language policy.
Dr Wasima Shahzad said, “Language is our identity and we need to take pride in our language.”
Appreciating experts for their active participation in various sessions, she said that there was a message of unity in diversity through these discussions, and very valuable inputs were given by all our national and international experts.
She said that a set of actionable recommendations will be shared with stakeholders and the government, which will help in evolving a national language policy and will impact our future education policy.
She said that some of key points of discussion included introduction of Urdu for Specific Purposes (USP), strengthening translation studies, improving quality of language teaching, policy of use of language in media particularly for children, establishment of linguistic units at PEMRA and other relevant bodies, special measures for preservation of different regional languages.
