Language in education in Pakistan: Recommendations for policy and practice

This report contains recommendations on the development of policy for language in education in Pakistan. 

Hywel Coleman and Tony Capstick 2012

This report contains recommendations regarding the development of policy for language in education in Pakistan.  These recommendations are based on policy dialogues, a case study and the analysis of research findings.

Early in 2010 the British Council in Pakistan invited Hywel Coleman to undertake a review of the condition of English in Pakistan and to prepare a report with recommendations as to where the British Council could most usefully provide support. The report, Teaching and Learning in Pakistan: The Role of Language in Education, was originally prepared, therefore, as an internal document for use within the British Council. However, the report went beyond its original brief. It argued that it would be inappropriate to look at English in a vacuum and that the broader linguistic context of Pakistan, particularly in the field of education, should also be considered. Subsequently the report was published (Coleman 2010a) by the British Council and distributed to various interested parties within Pakistan.

A decision was then made to subject the report to public scrutiny with the ultimate objective of generating recommendations for the Government of Pakistan. The process of public scrutiny began with three policy dialogues and then continued with conference presentations, ministerial level discussions and interactions with the public through radio phone-in programmes. These took place between October 2010 and February 2011. During 2010 - 2011 Tony Capstick carried out a further series of activities which were prompted by the policy dialogues and have contributed to this report.

This publication is free to download.

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