Should Science and Maths be taught in English in schools?

[Shapur]

I think the Sciences and Maths should be taught in English in schools in Pashtun areas because there is so much knowledge available for free in English which we can use for our benifit. English is the lingua franca of the world and knowing English can be a great advantage in many areas.
I think the Arts, humanities etc should still be taught in the local languages and scientific and mathematical books should be translated to Pashto so the Pashto lanugage can progress as well and not fall behind.
The PTI government in KPK is already implementing this idea and replacing Urdu with English in schools. I am against replacing Pashto with English outright but I think Science and Maths should be taught in English, what do you guys think?

[Shamlawar Khurasani]

In the Netherlands children learn Dutch, English, French and German. Depending how the progress, of course. The more talented students learn more languages.

Yet math and sciences are taught in native Dutch even in universities at undergraduate level.

We need to teach people more at early age. More English, more math and more sciences. We need to change madrasah systems and introduce better curriculum including maths, sciences and English.

I therefore want to invest in publication of more Pashto books in various disciplines such as sciences.

The more scientific literature available in Pashto the better. English textbooks are very expensive. If we produce our own books for secondary level schools and for undergraduates, the better.

We have to bare in mind that we can't afford to give students all the English literature they can benefit from. Those books are very expensive.

Writing books in Pashto in Afghanistan is a very good solution. It's cost effective and it benefits more people.

[kanishka]

Teach math and science in Pashto, not Urdu, not English.


This may have problems because Pashto will probably lack alot of words. Pashtun linguistic experts could make up words for pashto. For example, "force" can be use for a Pashto word. What would the pashto words for Derive or Integrate be? This is not hard since derive means to pick something out of and integrate means to mix something up, or make whole, since they derive and integrate are of latin origin. Find the meanings of those latin and greek words and translate it directly into a form of pashto that makes sense...

if making up words is to hard or too confusing cause it's the first time pashtuns, let alone, anyone, see these words come to existence. then use pashto that has borrowings from Farsi, Arabic and Turkish, similar to how Urdu is like Hindi with lots of borrowed words.

Hindi in India on the other hands tends to use old sansikrit words to make up for such losses...

[kanishka]

In the Netherlands children learn Dutch, English, French and German. Depending how the progress, of course. The more talented students learn more languages.

Yet math and sciences are taught in native Dutch even in universities at undergraduate level.

We need to teach people more at early age. More English, more math and more sciences. We need to change madrasah systems and introduce better curriculum including maths, sciences and English.

I therefore want to invest in publication of more Pashto books in various disciplines such as sciences.

The more scientific literature available in Pashto the better. English textbooks are very expensive. If we produce our own books for secondary level schools and for undergraduates, the better.

We have to bare in mind that we can't afford to give students all the English literature they can benefit from. Those books are very expensive.

Writing books in Pashto in Afghanistan is a very good solution. It's cost effective and it benefits more people.

It only benefits pashtun nationalists and shoves down the throats of HAzaras, Turks and Uzbecks....

Farsi and Dari is a language that has lots of history as being an academic language for more than 1000 years from Ancient persia and even the islamic golden age . Pashto would be at a fresh start cause it has never been a scholarly language...

[kanishka]

I think the Sciences and Maths should be taught in English in schools in Pashtun areas because there is so much knowledge available for free in English which we can use for our benifit. English is the lingua franca of the world and knowing English can be a great advantage in many areas.
I think the Arts, humanities etc should still be taught in the local languages and scientific and mathematical books should be translated to Pashto so the Pashto lanugage can progress as well and not fall behind.
The PTI government in KPK is already implementing this idea and replacing Urdu with English in schools. I am against replacing Pashto with English outright but I think Science and Maths should be taught in English, what do you guys think?

Imran Khan works againts the interest of Pashtuns, as Always...

i am ex-muslim and i have more respect and want Tahir Ul Qadri to be picked just cause Imran Khan boils my blood for being so popular......

but we lack any good candidates, for the interest of pashtuns, Sherpao is messed, Achakzai sleeps on his bed and Afsyandar Wali khan is stuck in a deadlock.

[kanishka]

Imran Khan works againts the interest of Pashtuns, as Always...well, Technically, he is improving the lives of Pashtuns, only to those that consider themselves proud Pakis and would punish any ANP or Pashtun nationalist heavily.....

i am ex-muslim and i have more respect and want Tahir Ul Qadri to be picked just cause Imran Khan boils my blood for being so popular......

but we lack any good candidates, for the interest of pashtuns, Sherpao is messed, Achakzai sleeps on his bed and Afsyandar Wali khan is stuck in a deadlock.

[Shapur]

In the Netherlands children learn Dutch, English, French and German. Depending how the progress, of course. The more talented students learn more languages.

Yet math and sciences are taught in native Dutch even in universities at undergraduate level.

We need to teach people more at early age. More English, more math and more sciences. We need to change madrasah systems and introduce better curriculum including maths, sciences and English.

I therefore want to invest in publication of more Pashto books in various disciplines such as sciences.

The more scientific literature available in Pashto the better. English textbooks are very expensive. If we produce our own books for secondary level schools and for undergraduates, the better.

We have to bare in mind that we can't afford to give students all the English literature they can benefit from. Those books are very expensive.

Writing books in Pashto in Afghanistan is a very good solution. It's cost effective and it benefits more people.

I agree the children need to be taught english from an early age as they are like sponge at that age absorbing everything. Children should be fluent in English when they reach secondary school.

There is vast amount of knowlege available for free from resources such as Khan Academy but all the resources are in english. There are millions of books about any subject available for free in english on the internet.

I am not sure why English books will be more expensive than Pashto books. I would think it will be more expensive to publish books in Pashto as you need to invest in translating books from english to pashto, finding people with enough knowledge to write scientific books in Pashto and then publishing them. With English books, you can just import them India etc for cheap but I am not an expert so can't be sure which option is more affordable.

[Shapur]

Imran Khan works againts the interest of Pashtuns, as Always...

i am ex-muslim and i have more respect and want Tahir Ul Qadri to be picked just cause Imran Khan boils my blood for being so popular......

but we lack any good candidates, for the interest of pashtuns, Sherpao is messed, Achakzai sleeps on his bed and Afsyandar Wali khan is stuck in a deadlock.

Imran Khan built a cancer hospital providing free healthcare to people in Pakhtunkhwa so he is definitely better than some other politicians but of course he can't shout empty slogans of pashtunwali as he was born in Punjab and can't speak Pashto. He uses Pakistani nationalism as a positive force to improve people's lives, he knows how to play the game.

[Shamlawar Khurasani]

I agree the children need to be taught english from an early age as they are like sponge at that age absorbing everything. Children should be fluent in English when they reach secondary school.

There is vast amount of knowlege available for free from resources such as Khan Academy but all the resources are in english. There are millions of books about any subject available for free in english on the internet.

I am not sure why English books will be more expensive than Pashto books. I would think it will be more expensive to publish books in Pashto as you need to invest in translating books from english to pashto, finding people with enough knowledge to write scientific books in Pashto and then publishing them. With English books, you can just import them India etc for cheap but I am not an expert so can't be sure which option is more affordable.

Here is why free stuff online is no solution for schools.

Every school follows a particular curriculum. The results of teaching is measured and monitored. Therefore the literature used as part of that curriculum must be standardized in order to make monitoring possible.

If you collect all the free stuff online to compile a curriculum of your own, you can only implement that in one private school. Because not all free stuff is standardized and meet the criteria of a particular level. Likewise not all free stuff are up to date. Most of it is old or obsolete.

Resources such as Khan Academy are good as supplementary material. You can't build your whole curriculum with his videos.

[DaZahroJaam.]

with english you have more accurate information and the students you educate are more able to apply that education internationally. their education is as compatible as the education in the west. for instance, a doctor from india or pakistan can upgrade in usa or canada with a little grief. a doctor who has recently graduated in afghanistan, has to start from scratch, regardless of how good he is in his field of education. in pashtu, you are preserving a language. the entire translating and updating the curriculum from english to pashto from time to time is time and budget consuming. those are two things that we don't have in afghanistan.

i don't know where i stand on this matter. but if i were in charge i would bring in english. pashto you can learn at home and some compulsory classes in school but english is something for afghans in afghanistan that requires alot of time investment.

[Admin Khan]

In college? Absolutely - At that point, learning it in Pashto is an overkill, since they should already have a strong foundation anyways; besides, it would make the graduates more marketable, and they don't have to carry a Pashto-English dictionary if they decide to advance their education at more competitive universities that will likely teach in English(think the U.S and U.K).

[Khostai]

It only benefits pashtun nationalists and shoves down the throats of HAzaras, Turks and Uzbecks....

Farsi and Dari is a language that has lots of history as being an academic language for more than 1000 years from Ancient persia and even the islamic golden age . Pashto would be at a fresh start cause it has never been a scholarly language...

Neither was English. In the old day in Europe the Kings and Quens in Germany spoke french as the court language, the British royalty spoke german up till the first world war. Pashto being fresh does not mean we shouldnot try it. And by the way Dari in Afghanistan is not that developed either, most of the time Tajiks use Farsi from iran when they speak on TV now.

[Khostai]

I think one of the bigest step in Afghan education would be to train the teachers better and reform the education to make it more problem solving then memorising stuff. Like now in Afghanistan even the universities are just there to help people memorize stuff, the exams question are basicaly the same as what was done in the text books. Something like this you will never see in the west espcialy not after the elementary school.

English would be great, but I doubt it will elevate people if the way how people are educated will remain the same. The system really needs to change...
Plus to become a teacher I recomend a more stricter rules need to be applied. Like having an higher degree and really knowing your subject. I hope they make a plan for that step by step....

[Khostai]

with english you have more accurate information and the students you educate are more able to apply that education internationally. their education is as compatible as the education in the west. for instance, a doctor from india or pakistan can upgrade in usa or canada with a little grief. a doctor who has recently graduated in afghanistan, has to start from scratch, regardless of how good he is in his field of education. in pashtu, you are preserving a language. the entire translating and updating the curriculum from english to pashto from time to time is time and budget consuming. those are two things that we don't have in afghanistan.

i don't know where i stand on this matter. but if i were in charge i would bring in english. pashto you can learn at home and some compulsory classes in school but english is something for afghans in afghanistan that requires alot of time investment.

Well you dont have any other choise, if you want to perserve your language only speaking it will not be enough. People need to use it in education and business and if it is time consuming so be it. Everything is time consuming and needs money.

[Shamlawar Khurasani]

I think one of the bigest step in Afghan education would be to train the teachers better and reform the education to make it more problem solving then memorising stuff. Like now in Afghanistan even the universities are just there to help people memorize stuff, the exams question are basicaly the same as what was done in the text books. Something like this you will never see in the west espcialy not after the elementary school.

English would be great, but I doubt it will elevate people if the way how people are educated will remain the same. The system really needs to change...
Plus to become a teacher I recomend a more stricter rules need to be applied. Like having an higher degree and really knowing your subject. I hope they make a plan for that step by step....

In Afghanistan, in order to improve the quality of education, you need better teachers. In order to producer better teachers, you need better quality at the "Darul Malimeen". The people who are currently teaching at the Darul Malimeen are usually very incompetent.

My suggestion would be to create a whole new institution with teachers and instructors who have international degrees in various sciences. They should have a very tough entry exam.

Currently, most of those products of "Darul Malimeen" can barely read and write properly. Look at some of their posts in pashto and farsi on facebook. They communicate like they didnt even finish school.