The Efficacy of the Application of Mother Tongues Education in Pakistan

Abstract

No doubt, the importance of English cannot be denied, but at the same time, mother tongue has also due importance concerning one's culture and understanding basic concepts at schools at primary level. This paper is an attempt to prove the importance of mother tongue as a medium of instruction at the primary level in District Bannu. The data were collected from students’ focal groups of fifty classrooms from ten schools. Two questions were asked in each subject from the focus groups to check their concept of the subject. Similarly, among the teachers, thirty respondents were interviewed in the Parents-Teachers Meeting (PTM) to find out their views about the efficacy of mother tongue instructions at the primary level. In this connection, parents were also interviewed. The results showed that among the students whose concept was clear, eighty percent of students were those who were taught in their mother tongue whereas twenty percent of students were those who were taught in English. Again, among the thirty teachers, eighty-five percent felt comfortable with teaching in the mother tongue whereas fifteen percent of teachers showed positive inclination towards teaching in a second language. Lastly, parents also felt at ease with the mother tongue instructions as they conveyed that their children go to school with zeal. Thus, mother tongue instruction proved helpful at the primary level. This study will also prove helpful to other researchers in the future for conducting similar studies in other districts.