Towards multilingual education

I am one of the panelists in this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-rLgRauaas&feature=relmfu. This program was  Nepal Television's (NTV) telecast 'Samabeshi Bahas' (meaning Inclusive Advocay). I and my senior Professors from Central Department of Education, Tribhuvan University were invited as panelists for the program. I enjoyed the discussion though a bit hesitant as it was my first appearance on TV screen.  We have discussed various issues of inclusive education. My focus was on how language issues are critical in education of minority groups especially of those whose first languages are rarely used in schools. Please watch the video and leave your comments. 

Debunking a few myths

The government of Nepal has shown its commitment to ensure quality education for children from all the communities by 2015 as envisioned by Educational for All and the Millennium Development Goal programmes. The Ministry of Education (MoE) has also developed guidelines for implementing multilingual education (MLE) as an integral part of the Nepali education system. According to the plan, local mother tongues will be the medium of instruction for pre-primary education and for all subjects (except Nepali and English) up to Grade 3. Basic education in Grades 4 and 5 shall be bilingual (the mother tongue and a second language). The government aims to implement MLE in 7,500 schools by 2015.

Famous scholars like Carol Benson, Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, Pamela MacKenzie and Ajit Mohanty have argued that teaching in one’s mother tongue not only enhances the children’s overall educational attainment but also establishes a linkage between schools and the community. However, there are some major misconceptions that have to be removed for the sustainability of MLE.

Education in mother tongue is irrelevant

There is a strong belief among parents, children and policy makers that dominant languages like English and Nepali are the most important languages to access wider socio-economic opportunities at the national and international levels.

Indigenous people from the developing countries often believe that learning in the mother tongue has no any relevance for promoting quality education. There is also a belief that since children are already competent in their mother tongue before they go to school, there is no point in introducing it in school. This belief emerges from the ignorance and illiteracy of the indigenous people. They are not aware of and are not well informed about the fact that, in the early grades, learning in the mother tongue will help children learn better, creating a strong foundation for effective learning of other languages like English and Nepali.

Kids should be taught in the dominant languages

There is a view that children should be taught in the dominant language irrespective of their linguistic background. In different developing countries, the perceived value of English, for example, as the language that brings prosperity in one’s life is taken as granted. People from poor countries have a mindset that without teaching English from the early grades, their children will be unable to compete with other children. Of course, it is true that having knowledge of English is necessary as it is a global lingua franca. There is no doubt that command over English provides wider socio-economic opportunities. But it is not true that children can learn better English or any dominant language if they develop confidence in learning in general.

Introduction of English, for example, from the early grades does not guarantee children’s competence in English. Availability of competent teachers, materials and other sources has to be considered. The case of Ethiopia (one of the world’s poorest countries) shows that children learning in their mother tongue for the first eight years have performed better in all subjects including English than those who were not taught in their mother tongue. Similar findings have been reported from Orissa, India. This clearly indicates that learning in the mother tongue in the early grades not only promotes competence in the first language but also promotes better learning of other languages including English.

Multilingual education is anti-English

In educational discourse, we see that mother tongue-based education and English education are considered as enemies. Not only indigenous activists but also educationists have this kind of belief. Policy makers and educationists fear that use of the mother tongue may displace the use of English and vice versa. However, this is only a misconception.

Mother tongue-based education is not an anti-English education policy, rather it supports effective teaching and sustainable learning of English. It advocates teaching of English at the right time, by the right people and for the right purpose. MLE argues for enhancement of quality education through the mother tongue in the beginning with effective teaching of English and other languages after children develop a strong foundation in their first language. Likewise, right policies and effective implementation of English education helps to promote the world’s linguistic diversity.

Multilingual education is expensive

There is a belief that since MLE requires production of materials and teacher preparation in multiple languages, the state cannot afford the financial burden of implementing such a programme. Although sufficient funds are necessary to implement the programme, it is not impossible to find funds if there is strong political will. At the same time, it should be noted that we cannot compare the children’s educational attainment with money.

Minority Rights Group International reported in 2009 that the world’s 101 million children are still out of school, and that between 50 and 70 percent of them are from minority linguistic communities due to linguistic barriers. We see that even if states and donor agencies have spent huge amounts of money, there is no substantial progress in ensuring access and promoting the quality of basic education. The World Bank has reported that although mother tongue-based education programmes are costly in the initial phase, in the long run they are more cost-effective as they promote quality education.

The value of the programme that helps to promote social cohesion, bring ethno-linguistic minority children into school, enhances quality education and increases community participation in schools is priceless and incomparable with the investment of money. In this regard, Tove Skutnabb-Kangas and others have argued that rather than asking whether states can afford mother tongue-based education programmes, we have to ask whether states can afford not to implement them.

Published on 23 December, 2011, The Kathmandu Post

Minding our languages

Language is very sensitive which may create social disintegration if it is not used and planned properly. We all know that Parmanand Jha, the first vice-president of the Federal Republic of Nepal, took the oath of office in Hindi on July 23, 2008. The whole country came to a halt for more than a week due to protests against his action. Although the Supreme Court declared his oath in Hindi to be unconstitutional and ordered him to retake the oath in Nepali, he refused to do so. To resolve this issue, the Legislative Parliament passed the Seventh Amendment to the Interim Constitution on Jan 28, 2010. The amendment allows the president, vice-president, prime minister and other ministers to take the oath of office in their first language. On Feb 7, 2010, Vice-President Jha took a fresh oath in both Nepali and Maithili, his first language.

Such issues emerge due to lack of a clear language policy. It is obvious that a society functions cohesively in a country where an inclusive multilingual policy is adopted. But conflicts and social disintegration of a different nature take place in a country like Nepal where the language policy is not inclusive. In a democratically just society, all linguistic communities expect their linguistic identity to be addressed and protected. In order to discuss how language issues can be settled for social cohesion, the Ninth Language and Development International Conference was organised in Colombo, Sri Lanka with the theme “Language and Social Cohesion” on Oct 17-19, 2011. As one of the paper presenters, I collected some major inputs that could be instrumental for language planning to build a cohesive Nepali society. 

The grand opening ceremony was conducted in three languages — Sinhala, Tamil and English — as per the government’s policy. As it was an international conference, all the government officials including Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa addressed the gathering in English. The president said that one of the reasons for the previous conflict in Sri Lanka was its discriminatory language policy (only Sinhala was recognised as the official language). There were two booths in the conference hall from where all the speeches were translated into Sinhala and Tamil that could be heard over a wireless headphone. 

Sri Lanka’s trilingual policy is clearly seen in the marketplaces, bus stations and the city. All the signboards and public notices are in three languages. Both Sinhala and Tamil are taught in the schools and universities. I learned at various informal discussions that Tamil-speaking children were doing well after the introduction of Tamil in school. It is also very interesting to learn that the Sri Lankan job market prefers trilingual candidates over monolingual ones. 

Sri Lanka’s language policy provides some significant issues to formulate an inclusive language policy in Nepal. First, it is clear that Nepal has to prepare a comprehensive language policy. Second, the country has to get rid of the “one language, one nation” attitude. Such narrow nationalism defined only in terms of the Nepali language undermines the indigenous identity of Nepal as a multilingual country. As Tamils agitated against Sri Lanka’s discriminatory one-language policy, different indigenous linguistic communities in Nepal have been demanding their linguistic rights for about two and half centuries. 

Although the country seemed to be unified with its one-language policy, people from various linguistic communities have been discriminated against. Due to lack of proficiency in the Nepali language, people from indigenous communities could not access wider socio-economic opportunities. Their children could not perform well in school as only Nepali was used as the medium of instruction. This clearly indicates that there is a need to formulate a feasible language-in-education policy which creates a cohesive atmosphere among the children’s home languages and the medium of instruction in school. 

Another important implication is that the country has to be cautious while developing language planning policies in its federal structure. As in Sri Lanka, the federal states can choose at least one local language (based on the number of speakers) to be used along with Nepali as another official and link language. In the case of other minority languages, the federal states can devise a policy to introduce them in education and other domains. Considering English as an important international language, its role has to be clearly defined. Although it is not easy to devise a multilingual language policy, it is not impossible if there is strong political will. For this, the country has to ensure the participation of linguistic groups in the process of language policy making. The top-down approach of language planning (planning based on the ideas of only the elite) may not really address linguistic complexities. 

We not only have more than 140 languages but also a treasure trove of knowledge constructed through them. All the languages have to be preserved. For this, the country has to make a long-term plan. One of the important lessons we can learn from Sri Lanka in this regard is the establishment of a separate ministry for the development of national languages. Sri Lanka has the Ministry of National Languages and Social Integration which is fully responsible for the promotion of national languages and fostering social cohesion. There is an urgent need for such a ministry in Nepal. By promoting the national languages, the country will be preserving a vast store of knowledge in literature, culture, ecology, history, education, society, conflict resolution, religion and so on.  

http://www.ekantipur.com/the-kathmandu-post/2011/11/14/oped/minding-our-languages/228221.html

On sale

Do you want to purchase goats for this Dashain?

What size do you need?

Expensive or cheaper?

Local or imported?

Don’t worry

A perfect goat shop has been opened

At the heart of the city

Buy two and get one free

(Photo: The Telegraph)

Thousands of hunters and fellow goats

Brilliant juvenile

Enduring aged

Sacrificed to assemble six hundred one

Caste, ethnicity, gender, age and ecology represented

Quality guaranteed 

Height, weight and color mixed

Some bleat  

Others sleep

Very few frail

My goats are on sale

(Photo: Photobucket)

I fed them for three years

Unruly and petulant always

Now I’m too tired to bear

I’ve no optimism and endurance

My goats and myself are on sale, hence 

Hospital

Hard-working doctors

Obedient nurses

Silent atmosphere

Patient patients

Incredible relief
Timely care

Attentive attendant

Luminous pain

Education business

Last month my relative’s came Kathmandu for his higher education after passing the School Leaving Certificate Examination (SLC) with distinction marks. He came to me and asked for help to find out right higher secondary school (often known as college) for him. I was puzzled where to send him as I could see that there are colleges every nook of my residence, New Baneshwar. Although I have not counted the number of colleges, I can see that new Baneshwar chowk is already covered with colorful and big flex boards projecting the advertisements of various colleges. There is no any place left to put even a single more board. With my puzzlement, I suggested him that he had to visit as many colleges as possible and choose one which he liked. With his excitement he visited some colleges but he was not able to decide which college he had to choose.

He had collected attractive brochures of many colleges. Some colleges have offered him scholarships, free hostel and transportation as well. He also said that in some colleges he was welcomed by beautiful girls with garland and offered him breakfast. But his excitement declined when he didn’t see infrastructures printed in the brochure in the college. Neither there was that attractive building nor the basketball court. Classrooms were under a tinned-roofed cottage.  Although they said that the seats were available only for limited number of students, there were no any students enrolled. This is only an example of how private colleges in Kathmandu are operated with mere business purpose rather than for academic excellence. I am not saying that all private colleges are like the one as mentioned here but it is true that the operation of private colleges has become no more than the operation of a bank in which some filthy rich people invest to become even richer exploiting poor and innocent people like my relative’s son.

It is interesting to see that majority of private colleges have put various renowned professors’ name in their brochures and TV advertisements to attract more students. As they see the names of professors and Drs, students believe in the academic quality of the colleges. However, it is not transparent that whether those professors really take classes in those colleges. What are their roles and responsibilities? This is not clear. In many cases, students do not see those professors’ face during their study in the college. I have also seen that distinguished public figures from different sectors have been used as ambassador of various private colleges in Kathmandu. My humble request to all distinguished personalities is: Could you please ensure the quality of education that the institute you are involved with? Could you please make it accessible to even poor but deserving candidates? Could you please not promote unhealthy competition in education by stopping propaganda strategies in the advertisement of colleges?

An issue emerged with the mushrooming of the private colleges is the commercialization of education. It has already indicated that education institutes are being established only for the purpose of earning money rather than helping to fulfill the mission of the providing quality education to the students. We could see that there is no any strict rule and comprehensive mechanism for monitoring overall operation of private colleges. It is ridiculous to see that the founders of colleges rent a building and start a college after getting permission from Higher Secondary Education Board (HSEB). And they charge expensive fees to the students to cover rent and expenses for other infrastructure. It is also bizarre to see that HSEB is giving affiliation to a large number of private colleges every year without any comprehensive feasibility study of infrastructure. Another interesting issue is that HSEB does not have any scientific criteria regarding the distance between colleges. We can see that there are more than four colleges within the same locality in the Kathmandu Valley. At the same time, due to lack of supervision from HSEB, private colleges are also exploiting students by putting them into a cramped classroom and by not providing them with basic facilities e.g. library, playground, drinking water, laboratory and so on.

There are so many disadvantages of providing affiliation to a large number of private colleges especially in the Kathmandu valley haphazardly. On the one hand, there is unhealthy competition among colleges and on the other hand, education will be simply an ‘object-for-sale’. We have already seen that different private institutes are split due to dispute among the founders and they have opened their own private colleges after getting affiliation from HSEB easily. They have left no stone unturned to attract students in their colleges. In order to stop such a commercialization of education and to promote quality and sustainable education institutes, HSEB should stop providing affiliation to private colleges to run 10+2 classes especially in those where there are too many colleges already. We could see heavy traffic jams due to a large number of students during office hour in Baneshwar, Kumaripati, Lagankhel, Tinkune, Chabahil and other areas in Kathmandu. Instead, HSEB can provide its affiliation in rural areas. 

HSEB should also make a policy which gives students equal opportunity to get admission in private colleges. It is not fair to bar students, who secure low marks from government schools and rural areas, from getting admission in any college in Kathmandu. But as this trend is prevalent now, two kinds of private colleges are in existence – colleges where students from rich family and urban areas with distinction mark study and the colleges where students from poor family with poor marks study. This distinction has already created a clear social division in the society. If this situation persists for longer period higher secondary education will be no other than divider in the  society and business for the filthy rich people. 

I am Maailee

I am Maailee, an outsider.

I have no home, no  family..

I wear ragged clothes and beg for my food. 

My destiny ends nowhere.

I remember those days when I was a servant

And the day my landlord decided not to keep me.

I had no single rupee.

Losing my hopes and dreams,

I sheltered at a temple,

Covering my body with newspaper.

I slept on the pavement.

Contemplating the endless miseries of life

I made an innocent attempt to end it.

Now, the statues are my only relatives.

They help to gather food for me.

They collect people around me

Who give me something out of pity -

And call me Maailee.