ABSTRACT
The National Education Policy 2009 of Pakistan designated English for two important roles in the government schools of Pakistan: English be taught as a compulsory subject from Grade 1; and also English be used as the medium of instruction for science and mathematics from Grade 4. This article analyzes the effect of embracing the English-medium mandate in the Sindh province of Pakistan. Using content and language integrated learning theory, the article shows that Sindh will experience a late partial bilingual education model. However, the article contends that the model will not be effective due to the lack of adequate resources and current poor performance of Sindh’s public education system. This article presents recommendations for sustainable policy formation regarding the role of English in Pakistani public education in the context of UNESCO’s Dakar Declaration, Education for All, and the Millennium Development Goals.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.