ISLAMABAD (The News) – Once part of India, Pakistan is speeding up the pace of its Arabisation by making it compulsory to learn Modern Arabic in schools.

The Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training of Pakistan Shafqat Mehmood on Tuesday said that the bill submitted in the National Assembly (NA) to make the Arabic language compulsory in Islamabad schools will be sent to the NA’s standing committee for review before passing it.

According to a report by Geo.tv, the minister clarified that Quranic teachings are already imparted across all Pakistan schools, adding that the decision to teach classical Arabic as opposed to conventional Arabic in school had also been under consideration for some time.

Shafqat Mehmood added that the PTI-led government has no reservations against teaching Arabic as a language in schools.

“We will submit a thoroughly-designed bill to the House in this regard”, the minister said. “Most members of the National Assembly have voted in favour of sending the bill to the standing committee for review.”

Responding to the education minister’s remarks, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal’s MNA Abdul Akbar Chitrali said that languages keep evolving, so it would be better if ministers do not oppose the decision [to include Arabic in the curriculum]. “Instead of sending it to the standing committee for review, the bill should be passed with immediate effect”, he demanded.