The document discusses the ongoing debate around the appropriate medium of instruction in Nepal's education system. It outlines the key issues in the debate, including whether the mother tongue, official language, or an international language should be used and at what grades any transition should occur. It summarizes the arguments for using the mother tongue or a national/international language. Finally, it examines how Nepal's School Sector Reform Program and National Curriculum Framework have addressed this issue, outlining policies for a multilingual model that incorporates the mother tongue, Nepali, and English at different grade levels.

1. Issues
in
Medium of Instruction
-Rebat Kumar Dhakal
28 Sept. 2010
Kathmandu University

2. • Medium of instruction as an issue
• Arguments for MT
• Arguments for national / international
language
• How it has been addressed (SSRP)

3. Language is contentious, and the debate between national
languages and mother tongues more soso. - MARK TURIN
As an issue
☯ Should local language or official language or international
.
language be the medium of instruction (MOI)?
☯ Should we use language as a subject of study or an MOI?
.
☯ What is the appropriate level to shift from MT- NL-IL?
.
☯ When and for how long should the MT be used as an MOI
.
and taught as a subject?
d h bj ?
☯ When and how should English be introduced as a subject
and as an MOI?

4. ☯ What about the right of ethnic minorities to have primary
education in their own mother tongue?
.
☯ Sh ld it be th mother t
Should b the th tongue of th majority of students
f the j it f t d t
whereby it would not be fair to some of the students
whose mother tongue is different; or should it be
g
Nepali the lingua franca and the national
language; or should it be English?

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A trilingual model for Nepali primary education:
1. Mother tongue
2. Nepali as the national or second language of education
3. English as the international language.

6. Why Mother Tongue ?
It promotes access, equity, self-esteem, faster
acquisition of basic literacy and contributes to
higher academic achievement (CDC 2005, p.11)
achievement. (CDC. 2005 11)
There are significant human and linguistic
resources in the regions that can be built upon
to support mother tongue as MOI throughout
primary schooling and teacher training.

7. Why International Language ?
Can
C MT educated students compete in the
d t d t d t t i th
global market?
Can MT education be equivalent to
International language education?
g g
<coverage, competitiveness and ………>

8. SSRP
Chapter 2 Early Childhood Education and Development
With a view to promoting a child friendly
environment in ECED centre and to ensure
children s
children’s rights to learn in their own mother
tongue, children’s mother tongue will be
employed as the medium of instruction.
ECED facilitators will be recruited locally.
(p.9)
( 9)

9. SSRP
Chapter 3 Basic and Secondary Education
Basic education
Policy direction < Quality and relevance (p. 13)>
Introducing mother tongue as a medium of instruction
Key results (p.14)
(p 14)
95 learning facilitation materials produced in different languages
Multilingual education implemented in 7,500 schools
Secondary education
Policy direction < Quality and relevance (p. 22 )>
Adopting the NCF as the basis for core curricula and local
curricula.

10. SSRP
Chapter 4 Literacy and Lifelong Learning
Implementation arrangement <Delivery mechanism ( 31)>
(p. )
Mother tongue medium literacy programmes
will be emphasized.
emphasized
Implementation matrix<Activity (what?) (p. 32)>
Introduce and expand mother tongue literacy
courses in local languages.

11. SSRP
Annex 3-2:
Anne 3 2 Quality Ed cation
Q alit Education
Instructional provisions<Medium of instruction (p.81)>
Children’s right to basic education through mother tongue
will be guaranteed in at least the first three grades.
The choice of MOI in school will be determined by the SMC
in consultation with the local government.
English will be taught as a subject from grade one onwards
onwards.
The MOI in Gumbas/Vihars, Madrasas and Gurukuls will be
determined by their respective management in consultatoin
with the DEO.

12. SSRP
Annex 3-2:
Anne 3 2 Instructional pro isions
Instr ctional provisions
To ensure that children learn in their MT at least in the
early grades up to three, SMC can determine the
language(s) of instruction in consultation with the
local body. Grades four and five can follow a
body
transition from the mother tongue MOI to Nepali.
From grade six to eight, the MOI can be fully in Nepali.
g g , y p
English will be taught as a subject from grade one
onwards. (p. 82)

13. NCF
• Provision of mother tongues as a medium of instruction and
learning from grade 1 to 5 and language transition at grade
6. (p. 42)
• C i l
Curriculum will give opportunity t l
ill i t it to learn i mother l
in th language i in
early grades in line with the child-development approach
to learning, the language of instruction will be the Mother
g g g
tongue in early grades i.e. Pre-primary to grade 5. There
will be provision for language transition from the mother
tongue to Nepali and/or English from grade 4 (p 22)
4. (p.

14. Indigenous languages as medium of education only in a few cases:
g g g y
• Newari (one school in the Kathmandu valley),
• Some of the Kirati languages, namely Bantawa,
• Limbu (formal education) and
education),
• Khaling (adult literacy, non-formal education).
• Textbooks in a number of languages of Nepal have been produced but they
are f the most part not distributed due to the lack of teachers.
for th t t t di t ib t d d t th l k f t h
• Because of the continued use of Nepali as the medium of instruction, there is
a high dropout rate in village schools. ( Toba & Rai, 2005, p. 19)
g g

15. 4 M d l of Education
Models f Ed ti
• Theassimilation model: Starting in the mother tongue, and continuing to
national language immersion
• The pluralistic model: Recognises the importance of the language
spoken at home; thus, first language teaching is not restricted only
p ; , g g g y
to the early grades
• The immersion model: Initial instruction is given in the national language
with oral discussion and instruction permitted in the local language
p g g
• The national language model: Sole instruction in the national language,
with no teaching in the mother tongue
(UNESCO,
(UNESCO Bankok 2007 p 63)
2007,p.

16. Challenges for Implementing MT as MOI
• Practical only in homogenous communities
communities.
• No teacher recruitment and training modalities have been
developed yet. (CDC, 2005, p.12)
• As a result of external funding, the Text Book Production Centre
has prepared some basic elementary readers in nine
different ethnic languages, but it is hard to ascertain to
what extent these primers are in use.
• Current political unrest makes it difficult to implement changes
in local contexts
contexts. (Advocacy Kit, p 6)
Kit p.6)

18. References
Advocacy kit for promoting multilingual education: Including the excluded. Language in
Education P li and P ti i A i and th P ifi R t i
Ed ti Policy d Practice in Asia d the Pacific. Retrieved f d from
http://www2.unescobkk.org/elib/publications/110/Booklet%202%20-
%20Language%20and%20Education%20Policies.pdf
CDC. 2005. National curriculum framework for school education (pre-primary-12) in Nepal.
(p p y ) p
Bhaktapur: Author.
Toba, S.I. & Rai, N.K. (2005). Diversity and endangerment of languages in Nepal. UNESCO
Kathmandu Series of Monographs and Working Papers, 7. Kathmandu: UNESCO.
UNESCO. 2005. First language first: Community-based literacy programmes for
minority language contexts in Asia. Bangkok. Retrieved from
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001402/140280e.pdf
2065 salko ain Retrieved from http://planipolis iiep unesco org/upload/Nepal/
ain. http://planipolis.iiep.unesco.org/upload/Nepal/
Nepal_%20Education_law_2065_Draft.pdf

19. Unceasing Debate
’