Is Punjabi Language Facing Neglect In Its Own Cradle?
Experts are worried over greater number of students failing the subject along with the general decline in the interest of students - Reports Kawaljit Kaur.
Published : May 14, 2026 at 7:31 PM IST
Chandigarh: Is Punjabi language facing neglect in its own cradle of Punjab? This is the question that has raised its head after the declaration of Class 10 and Class 12 results declared recently by the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) recently.
Of the 2.84 lakh students that appeared in Class 10 examination, 1,859 students failed in Punjabi. Similarly, of the 2.65 lakh students that appeared in Class 12 exams, 3,791 failed in the compulsory examination in their mother tongue.
The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) for 2024 mentioned that only 48% of the Class 5 students could read a Class 2 Punjabi book properly. This figure was 62% in 2018. Sources in Panjab University disclosed that in 2025, only 42 out of 120 seats of MA Punjabi were filled while the remaining 65% remained vacant.
According to a report of the Dean Development Council (DDC), 23 out of 138 colleges in Punjab shut down the BA Punjabi (Honours) course in the last three years.
Many feel that the status of Punjabi has declined because of its lack of connection with employment. The Punjab government made a rule in 2022 that for Group-C and Group-D posts, Punjabi test of Class 10 level will be mandatory and the candidate must score at least 50% marks to make it to the merit list. This is being viewed as candidates making mistakes in the Punjabi language paper which led to this rule.
Many people also feel that Punjabi has not got its due in the digital world. An Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) report said that the content of Indian languages on the internet worldwide is less than 0.1%. This shows that while Punjabi is the ‘state language’ on paper, its hold on employment is weakening in the digital sector.
Talking about the prevailing scenario, Punjabi language expert, writer and social worker Dr. Kulwinder Kaur Minhas told ETV Bharat, "One of the reasons for the plight of Punjabi is the attitude of private schools where children are strictly prohibited from speaking Punjabi and students who do so have to face fines or punishment. The result is that the interest in the language is disappearing among the children. The educational foundation of children is so weak that more than 60% of the students of Class 5 do not even have the basic knowledge of the language. When these same children reach higher classes, they face great difficulties while writing essays or applications in Punjabi."
Dr. Kulwinder further stated that the growing influence of social media and 'Roman Punjabi' (writing Punjabi in English letters) has completely alienated students from the Gurmukhi script. "Apart from this, the increasing number of migrant children in Punjab is also a factor as they have no interest in learning Punjabi and prefer Hindi," she added while pointing out that in an attempt to show off, people refrain from speaking to their children in Punjabi and use Hindi or English instead. This has further pushed Punjabi to the margins.
She pointed out that if the government does not make Punjabi mandatory in schools, colleges and offices and if the social organizations do not raise their voice together, then the future of the Punjabi language could be even more serious.
Meanwhile, Punjabi language lover Pandit Dharenwar Rao described the large number of students failing in Punjabi in Class 10 and 12 as a "big tragedy".
He pointed out that a large number of the children who fail are those who study in government schools. "The biggest reason for this is the severe shortage of Punjabi teachers in government schools. In many schools, there has been no permanent Punjabi teacher for a long time due to which the children’s grasp on grammar and writing remains very weak," he said.
He further stated, "Questions have also been raised on the way the Education Department works. When the Department knew that students were weak in their mother tongue, why were special classes or support materials not provided for them? In private schools, Punjabi is offered as an optional subject due to which only those children who are proficient in it take it, whereas in the government schools it is compulsory for all. So the impact of teacher shortage is directly visible on the results."
When ETV Bharat contacted retired Principal and Punjabi teacher Naseeb Singh Sewak, he said that lack of shared responsibility among the government, school administrators, teachers and especially parents is responsible for the dismal state of affairs.
"Earlier teachers used to work hard on the structure and pronunciation of each letter, but now the foundation is getting weak due to the rote learning and lack of quality teaching. The Punjabi syllabus is also several decades old which does not match the modern era and the mentality of children due to which their interest in this subject is decreasing," he said.
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