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Thu, November 27 2008

The Punjabi Language Education Association (PLEA) has been working to promote Punjabi in B.C.’s public schools and post-secondary institutes for more than 15 years. Punjabi is one of the 10 most spoken languages out of a total of 6,000 around the globe.
As part of PLEA’s continuous efforts, it is holding a speech contest for students taking Punjabi, on Nov. 30 from noon to 3 p.m. at Bombay Banquet Hall, 7475-135 St., Surrey. The contest will consist of three categories: beginners, advanced and impromptu.
For the beginners and advanced categories, there are four topics to choose from: Discrimination (Race and/or caste), Gender discrimination (preference of males over females etc.), Youth Violence and Environment.
For the impromptu categories, any student under age 25 will be able to participate. Each participant will pull a topic out of a box.
There will be two prizes each for the beginners and advanced categories and one for the impromptu.
Surrey continues to be a leader in teaching Punjabi. Nearly one quarter of its population of 400,000 is of South Asian heritage. Surrey is a model for Punjabi language instruction in the province.

At present in Surrey, six secondary schools and three elementary schools – Beaver Creek, Newton and Strawberry Hill - offer Punjabi classes. More than 600 students at the secondary level and 250 at the elementary level are enrolled in Punjabi classes at Surrey schools.
At the post-secondary level, University of BC, Kwantlen University College and University College of the Fraser Valley are offering Punjabi classes.
The Canadian census shows that as of May 2006, the number of people who identified Punjabi as their mother tongue grew to 367,505. This places Punjabi as the sixth most spoken language in Canada.