City organisation to promote Urdu

The younger generation of Urdu-speakers is moving away from their mother tongue, and an Urdu organisation in the city is trying to promote the language by taking it to convent schools.

The younger generation of Urdu-speakers is moving away from their mother tongue, and an Urdu organisation in the city is trying to promote the language by taking it to convent schools.

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On the occasion of International Mother Language Day on Monday, cultural and literary organisation Urdu Markaz took forward its two-year-old programme, Urdu Tehreeq’, that aims at introducing Urdu as a 50-marks language subject in English medium schools that have a least 20 students seeking to learn it. The organisation has tied up with the government-sponsored National Council for the Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL), which has agreed to help provide Urdu teachers to schools that introduce the language. According to a state board rule, Urdu or any other mother tongue can be taken as a third optional composite subject for 50 marks along with a 50-marks Hindi paper from Classes 5 to 10, as long as there are at least 20 students in the batch who formally demand it.

“Youngsters are moving away from their mother tongues,” said Zubair Azmi, director, Urdu Markaz, which organised a seminar on the importance of promoting Urdu at Mohammed Ali Road on Monday.