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School decides to end Urdu lessons
News from The Peterborough Evening Telegraph, www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk
THE head teacher of a Peterborough school has defended moves to stop teaching Urdu language classes.
The Thomas Deacon Academy, in Queen’s Gardens, which has 2,100 pupils, plans to phase out the classes at the end of the academic year for educational reasons.
However, one concerned parent has contacted the Evening Telegraph to highlight the importance of teaching Urdu, which is the national language of Pakistan.
Parent Anun Khan said: “I know that a lot of people are very disappointed about this and want to do something about it.
“The Urdu classes are very valuable and to stop them completely would be harmful to the children’s learning.
“If children aren’t going to learn the language in school then they may neglect it completely.
“If there is anything we can do to make the school have a rethink then we would promote that.”
Headteacher Alan McMurdo said: “The reason we have decided to phase out the classes is down to the timetable we operate in the school.
“The group of children who learn Urdu then go around other subjects in the curriculum as a group.
“In this group of children we have a very broad range of abilities, from those who are really struggling to those who have Cambridge University aspirations.
“The problems happen when they go off to learn their other subjects and are not making progress as a group.”
The school plans to hold a meeting with concerned parents on February 7.
One option the school may seek to explore is running after-school Urdu classes in partnership with a community group.
Mr McMurdo added: “We set up a similar operation to teach Polish to pupils a few years ago.
“We’re not turning our backs on teaching Urdu completely and the current classes will run until the end of the academic year.
“It’s a difficult situation and we can understand why parents may be concerned. Any issues they have can be discussed at the meeting.”
As well as being the national language of Pakistan, Urdu is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an official language of five states. The combined population of Hindi and Urdu speakers is the fourth largest in the world.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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