LANGUAGE POLICY, LANGUAGES IN EDUCATION, AND IMPLICATIONS FOR POVERTY REDUCTION IN PAKISTAN

Abstract

The paper is based on some key findings of a wider 3-year research study funded by Research Consortium on Educational Outcomes and Poverty (RECOUP). This in-depth qualitative study used multiple case study method to capture the processes by which languages used in government and private schools, under the current language policy of Pakistan, differentially affect poverty reduction in terms of equality in the expansion of opportunities and choices, as suggested by Amartya Sen’s capability approach. The interview data of 32 participants (final year secondary school graduates and 5-6 year older same- sex siblings) from 8 private and government schools in Punjab and Sindh, along with documentary analysis and participant observation revealed issues of language-based exclusion and marginalization that led to the persistence of the disadvantage of the social and academic government school participants, despite education.