Chandigarh: Opposition Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today condemned the Congress government's move to introduce English as a medium of instruction in 2,750 state-run schools, terming it an "anti-Punjab and anti-Punjabi" step.   The SAD alleged it would undermine the prospects of the Punjabi language in a state where it enjoys the status of official language.   

"We all know the mother tongue plays a great role in human development. However, by depriving our younger minds of enjoying the privilege of learning in the Punjabi language, the Congress government is doing the opposite.   "I wonder about the wisdom of Congress government which assumes that changing of just the medium of instruction would result in improving the quality of education in the state," SAD spokesman and senior vice President Daljit Singh Cheema said in a statement here today.   

He was reacting to the Punjab government deciding to introduce English as a medium of instruction in 2,750-odd schools across the state from April 1. Criticizing the "unnecessary haste" being shown by the state government in starting English medium classes in 400 schools in the first phase, the SAD leader claimed that it had not hired a single English teacher for this purpose.   "How will the government provide quality education in absence of the competent faculty? 

Apart from it, there were not enough Punjabi teachers available in those 1953 schools where the government intends to start English medium classes. This exercise will definitely have a cascading effect on the students studying in Punjabi medium as well," he added.   

Rejecting the state government's contention that implementation of English medium in the state-run schools was aimed at bridging the gap between them and private schools, the SAD leader said even the Punjabi scholars and writers have completely refused to buy this "anti-Punjabi language theory".