'Go back to India': Canadian school offering Punjabi classes faces massive backlash online

Peden Hill Elementary School in Prince George, B.C., has recently gone viral online. The Canadian educational institution has launched a new after-school Punjabi-language program forging connections between staff members, students and their families.

School principal Nicole Polhuis created the program after she was approached by parents who were worried their children would be disconnected from their Punjabi culture and language.

"Peden Hill has about a 40 per cent Indo-Canadian population, many of whom are Punjabi speaking at home, with a range of fluency levels within our students," she said. Thus, the school decided to start an after-school program to see if it would interest the students and they expressed interest "right away."

"I really like how they're introducing this language to everybody," said Grade 4 student Mehnoor Dhaliwal, who is taking part in the program and speaks Punjabi at home. "I really feel welcome here."

Bringing families closer

The Punjabi classes started in April and run once a week on Mondays until the end of the school year. The program is run by Kamaljeet Saini, a fluent Punjabi speaker and educational assistant at the school who moved from India to Canada in 2023. She said she agreed to lead the programme because she had met many people in the Sikh and Punjabi communities who wanted to teach their children Punjabi. "I think it's necessary because there is a gap between kids and their grandparents," she said. "Students are speaking in English, so how will they converse with their grandparents, because they are Punjabi speaking?"

The classes are a mix of Punjabi and non-Punjabi learners including school staff members. While the programme is currently open to Grade 4 and 5 students, Polhuis hopes to expand it to more grades next year, depending on the response and progress.

Canadians troll after-school Punjabi programme

While the school's decision to accommodate the Punjabi community's decision might be appreciated by the Indian residents, it has received massive backlash from the Canadian natives.

"I honestly don't get the point of schools teaching any other language but European languages - maybe Mandarin, Arabic and Russian. But only business world languages. No one needs Hindi or Punjabi," wrote a user on X (formerly Twitter).

"I didn’t get Italian lessons to connect with my culture. Punjabis!!!! Speak English!," added another.

"This is Canada not India. Take a flight back home. Canada doesn’t have to accommodate your mother’s tongue in Canada. Everyone who comes to Canada has made sacrifices or just don’t bother coming at all. Simple," one claimed.

According to a 2021 census report by Statistics Canada, Punjabi has become the fourth most spoken language in the country, registering a 49% growth in the past five years. With schools introducing Punjabi language classes, the language may be more propagated within the community's Canadian residents. While the course is optional for natives, it seems it still a topic of immigrant-native contention.