Country without people

The centrality of ‘people’ in a democratic polity is undeniable. People’s voices are the most significant aspect of any democratic country. People are an invisible yet powerful center for the sustainability of democracy. However, how and to what extent are their voices heard by the political parties that tend to represent them? Why do political parties often forget people’s mandates? These are some critical issues to be discussed in the changed political context of the country.   
Just before and after the dissolution of the Constituent Assembly (CA), I am having a series of informal discussions with people from different walks of life. I went to my birthplace to meet my parents earlier this month. During my informal discussions, the villagers expressed their strong discontent with ‘Rajnitikaran’ (politicalisation) in all sectors, especially in schools. One of my seniors said there was likely a fight among Maoists, CPN-UML, Nepali Congress and Limbuwan cadres regarding a controversial recruitment of a new ‘Rahat’ (relief) quota teacher in a local school where I finished my primary education. He criticised that, in the name of consensus, political parties are recruiting their cadres in different committees and activities related to development in the village. Jokingly, he said that he was offered some opportunities by different political parties if he would join their parties. During another talk, a teacher from a neighbouring village said, “I was challenged by the cadres of political parties when I raised questions regarding the decision of the ‘sarbadaliya samyantra’ [all party mechanism] to allocate the budget haphazardly in the village.” He further shared that his query about the sovereignty of people is simply ignored by the ‘samyantra’. He said the members of the ‘samyantra’ turned a deaf ear when he asked them whose voices—the people’s or party leaders’—should receive attention in democracy. 
These two anecdotes are examples only. The contentions shown by the common people during my visit to eastern Nepal reflect two issues. First, there are many cases of abuse of authority and misuse of the budget allocated for the village development committees (VDC). Although political parties fight each other over agendas, they make consensus on sharing budgets equally. It is apparent that almost all developmental budgets are handled by the cadres of different parties, as they have their hold in the consumers’ committee. Second, in the guise of development, political parties are free to impose their worldviews through the ‘samyantra’. Surely, this is not good for democracy. But there are two fundamental reasons behind the emergence of this situation. First, all political parties know—even in each ward of a VDC—the number of party cadres. They not only distribute memberships to the people, but also appease them financially (not ideologically). Through unions, political parties also know the number of teachers, professors, doctors, students, engineers, pilots and so on who are affiliated with their parties. It seems that through politicalisation of all sectors, Nepali society is fragmented in accordance with the number of political parties. This fragmentation has already weakened the integrity of civil society. Due to this, political parties are not really worried about their accountability to the people. They often break their promises for nation building, as they are confident that their cadres must vote for them again. If party cadres do not vote for their leaders, they are penalized. They cannot be critical about their leaders and the agendas of parties. This leads to the imposition of central and top leaders’ ideology to the cadres at the bottom. 
Second, indirectly, people are forced to become a member of a political party. For example, all teachers should be affiliated with a political party for their professional security. Without being affiliated with a party, it seems that people are not able to get jobs, because being a member of a political party is the first criterion to be qualified for employment. This may be good for the political parties to win elections, but due to lack of neutral and critical mass, political parties not only become weaker, but also tend to be less accountable to the people.  
Present political chaos results from a lack of a critical population. We have developed a unique culture where people are not ready to accept the mistakes of the parties they are affiliated with. Everything that is accomplished by their party is right, and whatever is accomplished by others’ parties is wrong. Why are our political parties not able to forge consensus even if they sit for a series of talks? It is because they are part of a political culture where whatever other parties say is always wrong. This indicates that our parties need to revamp the way they are functioning. 
First, they have to develop a culture of listening to others, critically assessing their own agendas and seeing how they can develop a common ground to forge consensus with other parties. Second, they have to rethink their organisational structures. Rather than forcing people to take membership, political parties have to take their agendas to the grassroots level and educate people about their vision for national development. They have to let people decide which parties’ agendas are better. This will ultimately foster a culture of political harmony and respect for other people’s sovereignty. Last but not least, political parties, as a key agency to foster democracy, should think of increasing the critical mass of people who can closely assess their ideologies and activities. In the absence of ‘people’, as it is happening currently, political parties cannot develop their ability to govern the nation and contribute to social transformation and nation-building. 

Globalization, neoliberalism and commodification of English in Nepal

 Globalization

Nepal never had an English colonial history nor has it recognised English as an official language in its constitutions until now. Yet, the English language has already become a principal component of the Nepali education system. Two key forces—globalisation and neoliberalism—have contributed in this regard. When Nepal opened its door to foreigners after the end of the Rana regime in 1950, the flow of foreigners for tourism, business, research, development, religion and education increased briskly in Nepal. The number of multinational companies and international non-governmental organisations is increasing these days due to Nepal's membership in various international organisations such as the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, and the United Nations. With their arrival, foreign languages (like English) and cultures have also made their visible space in the country, especially in big cities like Kathmandu and Pokhara. Cinemas, cafes and English medium schools now proliferate these cities.
With the tourist industry booming, English has reached rural places like Jomsom, Muktinath and Dhorpatan. We see illiterate people who sell flowers, Nepali arts, clothes and other gift items in various tourist spots like Dakshin Kali, Thamel, Pashupati, and Pokhara speaking survival English to communicate with
foreign tourists. Realising the importance of English in tourist areas, public schools are gradually shifting their medium of instruction from Nepali to English, as has been the case in Ilam district as reported by The Post (25/01/2009). Quoting a fifth grader, Sandhya Rai, The Post reported, “Hundreds of children in this tourist destination are unable to realise their dream of speaking fluent English. Taking into account the need of English medium education in this remote village of Meghma, Saraswoti Primary School has begun teaching English from the very beginning'. English speaking tourists who visit this area mainly for trekking respond to their use of English and encourage them by providing books and stationery.
With the arrival of foreign tourists, major cities like Kathmandu and Pokhara have already become global cities marked by hybrid languages and cultures. Places like Thamel and Lake Side (Pokhara) are full of restaurants, cafes, hotels, bars,
and recreation centres. Even a rickshaw-puller communicates in broken English with foreigners in these places. Major cities are full of shopping malls where foreign goods are sold.
Technology is also contributing significantly to the expansion of English in Nepal. Although we have only had mobile technology in this country for the past 12 years, according to Nepal Telecom (NTC), the total number of mobile phone users in Nepal reached 14,104,011 in January 2011. Recent statistics from the Nepal Telecom Authority (NTA) shows that 4.78 million mobile subscribers use Ncell whereas 4.71 million use NTC mobile services. The International Telecom Union (ITU) estimates that more than 811,780 (2.8 percent) Nepalis use the Internet (March 2011). Facebook and Twitter are already famous social networking tools. The ITU estimates that 685,280 Nepalis use Facebook (December 2010), which is significantly less than the number 1,221,040  (4.22 percent of the total population), as reported by Socialbakers, one of the biggest Facebook statistics portals in the world. Whatever the exact number of users may be, Facebook now isn’t merely a popular tool for communication in English but equally important for various social and political campaigns. 

Neoliberalism and commodification 
Since its democratic journey began in 1990, Nepal has adopted a neoliberal economic policy—an unregulated free market in which the private sector and donor agencies have received a notable space in the nation building process. Owing to the state's mantra of private-public partnership, private investment has become a key source of the national economy.
Neoliberalism has not only legitimised the role of English as a global language but also projected it as a 'commodity' to be sold especially in education. It has paved the way for the opening of private schools (English medium), many of which are exploiting parents by using English as a key selling point. Generally, as private schools are primarily opened with a business purpose first; they are concerned with earning money in the guise of quality education.
Many private schools are successful in propagating this ideology: namely, learning English means receiving quality education. Innocent parents uphold the view that children will get better job opportunities if they are educated in private schools. The School Leaving Certificate Examinations (SLC) results seem to support this ideology in that, every year, the top ten students are mostly from
private schools. For example, the SLC results (2010/2011), which were published on 20 June, 2011, show enormous disparity between public and private schools in terms of pass percentage, a 90 percent pass rate in private schools and only 46 percent in public ones.
But how many students who graduate from private English medium schools get better jobs? Are they really competent for jobs available within the country and beyond? Do better SLC results equal a better education? These questions require further research and more discussion.
Phyak is pursuing a doctorate at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He is also Secretary of the Nepal English Language Teachers’ Association (NELTA)

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