On Monday, Senator Muhammad Javed Abbasi of the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) introduced a bill in the Senate to make the teaching of Arabic Language compulsory for students in educational institutions, The Compulsory Teaching of Arabic Language Bill, 2020.
The Senate passed the bill with a majority, sending the bill to the National Assembly, which would turn it into an enforceable Act of Parliament if the bill is passed in the lower house as well. If passed, it would make learning Arabic compulsory for grades 1st-5th in Islamabad.
However, after the 18th Amendment to the Constitution education is a provincial legislative subject and cannot be legislated on by the Parliament and can not be enforced in provinces without being passed by provincial legislatures.
Alongside this, the Education Ministry is planning a separate overhaul of the education sector. Recently, a notification issued under the Single National Curriculum (SNC) instructed all private schools to make Urdu the language of instruction for all subjects (other than English).
