Category Archives: Books by ZM

By Zubeida Mustafa

The recently launched book, “Tyranny of Language in Education” by Zubeida Mustafa (published by Ushba Publishing) has created an interest in the subject. On Monday 20 June, 2011 FM 105 broadcast a programme on the subject in which anchorperson Tahseen Fatema talked to Mehtab Rashdi, Asif Noorani and Zubeida Mustafa on this subject. We present the talk here. Continue reading →

By Zohra Yusuf
Source: Newsline

The Language Divide

When the Bengali language movement started, leading to the killing of students on February 21, 1952, no one – and certainly not the establishment in West Pakistan – thought that in the second decade of the 21st century, this date would begin to be commemorated by the UN as International Mother’s Language Day. Bengalis have been known to be passionate about their mother tongue. But apart from the passion, perhaps they realised early on that language is an instrument of power and control. Consequently, they rejected vociferously, Governor-General Jinnah’s decision to make ‘only Urdu’ the national language of Pakistan. It’s also worth noting that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh, experienced his first arrest at the hands of Pakistani authorities when, as a student, he led a protest following Jinnah’s ill-conceived public speech in Dhaka.
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By Imtiaz Ali
Source: The News

Karachi
‘Be not the slave of words’ was the advice given by Scottish literary Thomas Carlyle over a century ago, and can be applied to Pakistan today with respect to language in education. Be not the slave of language or rather, be not under the tyranny of language, was the topic of discussion at Saturday’s launch of Zubeida Mustafa’s latest book “Tyranny of language in education, the problem and its solution”, at the Karachi Press Club.

During the event, speakers critiqued the dominance of the English language in Pakistan’s prevailing education system.

Senior journalist and writer Zubeida said that education essentially played the role of equaliser in terms of opportunities, but in Pakistan it was reinforcing the division of society.
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By Mahnoor Sherazee
Source: Tribune

After extensive research and a great deal of groundwork, Mustafa launched her book ‘Tyranny of Language in Education: The Problem and its Solution’.

Author: Zubeida Mustafa. Photo Credit: Athar Khan / Express

After extensive research and a great deal of groundwork, Mustafa launched her book ‘Tyranny of Language in Education: The Problem and its Solution’ at the press club on Saturday.

“In education, the medium of instruction is not given enough importance whereas cognitive development is closely related to language,” she told The Express Tribune. “Using English as that medium right from the start, in primary school, is harmful to that relationship.”
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Source: Dawn

KARACHI, May 28: An impassioned discussion on the subject of education was witnessed at a seminar held at the Karachi Press Club on Saturday. The event was part of the launch of a book titled Tyranny of language in education: the problem and its solution by Zubeida Mustafa.

Dr Aquila Ismail, a former teacher of the NED university, in her introductory remarks to the book and its contents said language was a medium of communication and the thought process was related to the language in which a child dreamed.
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Source: InpaperMagzine,Dawn
What is the education sector’s biggest failure?

It has failed to teach our children the value of human life and dignity as well as to impart economic skills to the majority. Most significantly, it has proved to be the dividing factor that has stratified society.

How can we fix this?

Revamp education. Remove inequities. Focus on the teaching — what you teach, how you teach and in which language you teach.
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A major achievement in the study of the failure of our language and education policies
By Dr Tariq Rahman
Source: Jang

Tyranny of Language
in Education:
The Problem and its Solution
By Zubeida Mustafa
Publisher: Ushba Publishing, 2011
Pages: 234
Price Rs. 200

Like many concerned Pakistanis, Zubeida Mustafa has been worried about the unjust and dysfunctional education system of the country. Unlike most of us, however, she started investigating the phenomenon and wrote a series of
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Reviewed by Murtaza Razvi Source: InpaperMagzine, Dawn The timing of this book is very appropriate given the parliament’s passage last year of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which gives the provinces more say in their own affairs. Zubeida Mustafa … Continue reading →