A one day Seminar was organized by the National Council for Promotion of Sindhi Language on 18th January 2010 at India Islamic Cultural Center, New Delhi from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Sindhi scholars, Principals of Sindhi schools, Sindhi teachers, other well-known academicians from all over India, and members of the NCPSL were invited to review the Sindhi Language Learning Courses scheme of the NCPSL.
Shri Suresh Keswani Ex-MP (Rajya Sabha) formally inaugurated the Seminar. In his inaugural address, he said language is the identity of a community and associated with its culture. He pointed out that during his tenure as a Chairman of Linguistic Minority Commission, he realised that every language faces difficulties similar to the Sindhi language and is threatened by the increasing influence of English in the context of globalisation and invasion of a foreign culture with the advent of satellite channels.
He emphasized the need for unity. Citing the examples of China, he said that by adopting one Script for four different languages they succeeded in preserving all of them. Similarly, Jews revived their language by involving religious institutions in the promotion and preservation of their language. Similar methods can be adopted for Sindhi Language by involving panchayats and other religious institutions in this task.
In view of the advancement of technology and modern methodology of teaching, academicians should ponder over the new methods. He also said that a new curriculum should be prepared and CDs/VCDs can also be used to make learning interesting. He suggested that a national centre the for promotion of Sindhi language should be established in India.
The Vice-Chairman, welcomed the delegates and gave a brief account of the scheme of Sindhi Language Learning Courses. Explaining the need of present Seminar, he said that during his visits to various towns, cities like Ajmer, Katni, Ulhasnagar, Jalgaon, and in his interaction with students and others, it was strongly felt that there was an urgent need to review the present scheme of Sindhi Language Learning Courses and revamp the whole scheme. The present Seminar, he said, would provide ideas and important suggestions in this direction. He also informed the delegates about various Seminars and programmes organised in various cities during April to December, 2009 with the financial assistance of the NCPSL.
The Director of the Council welcomed the delegates and expressed the hope that innovative ideas will emerge from the discussions which will contribute to streamlining the present scheme of Sindhi Language Learning Courses to make it more suitable according to the changed time and need.
Describing the existing scheme of Sindhi Language Learning as a flagship scheme of NCPSL, Prof. C.J. Daswani said the present course is in itself good and this scheme was designed targeting those children who do not study Sindhi language in the Schools. He regretted that parents think there is no benefit in studying the Sindhi language. He suggested that children’s literature should be written in the language spoken in daily use. He added that comic-books and bi-lingual comics and story books should be published.
He said that special courses should be designed for students willing to opt for Sindhi as a subject in the IAS and Civil Services examinations and coaching should be arranged for them by the NCPSL. He suggested introducing correspondence courses, E-learning and making use of Multi Media courses to reach Sindhis scattered all over India and overseas. He added that new courses should also be introduced and Sindhi Panchayats should be involved in the task of awakening parents towards the importance of Sindhi Learning.
He invited names from the delegates who wanted to participate in the open discussion and give their suggestions in person as well as in writing.
