INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
LONDON: Community leaders from the Indian diaspora in Britain have actually turned over a memorandum resolved to education secretary Gillian
Keegan calling for 10 Indian languages to be contributed to the national curriculum in England
The memorandum was turned over to an agent from the department of education at the Indian high Commission in London on Tuesday
As a vibrant and inclusive society, it is due time that trainees of the UK learn these languages as part of their school curriculum, the
letter from Harmeet Singh Bhakna, director of the Punjabi Language Awareness Board UK, states
It is requiring Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali, Gujarati, Tamil, Nepali, Malayalam, Hindi, Telugu and Marathi to be added to the nationwide
curriculum that all local-authority kept schools in England have to follow
These languages, in this order, are the top 10 South Asian languages spoken as a primary language in England, according to the 2021 census
The government does not recommend which languages are taught, schools usually just teach French, German and Spanish.Bhakna said: I have
requested lots of times for Punjabi to be included to the curriculum, but they always stated because of the Equality Act they might not
include it, so now we have requested 10 languages to be included to the curriculum and get the same treatment as French
We are waiting for an action and they cant say the Equality Act is preventing this
At present if students request to find out another language, the school typically says it has no spending plan and refuses, and the kids
need to discover it outdoors school and spend for it out of their own pockets
Many British Indian children are learning Punjabi outside school, in gurdwaras
Bhakna, and C K Naidu, who represents Sanathan Sanstha UK, who are behind the project, want South Asian languages to be taught at every
school in England so that Britain can make the most of its Brexit dividend
They do notjust desire the languages taught in locations where there are high concentrations of South Asian heritage pupils
The main thing is to ability the UK country and build more powerful relations with South Asian countries, Bhakna said
The mentor of these languages would help the integration of the South Asian community with the English community and within the South Asian
You saw the clashes in Leicester, he stated
When you speak to someone in their own language, business flourishes and you understand the other persons culture, Naidu stated,
explaining the importance of Indian languages now that UK-India business ties are growing.
