Kathmandu, Feb 2:   Minister for Education, Science and Technology, Giriraj Mani Pokhrel, has underlined the need of equally promoting the use of English and Nepali languages.

In his address to the 74th anniversary celebrations of the Viswa Niketan Secondary School here today, the Education Minister said the Nepali language, one of the oldest languages in the South Asia, should be further enhanced and the use of English be promoted simultaneously.    
    
Pointing out the increasing risk for the Nepali language to become weaker due to the growing use of the English, he said Nepalis should have knowledge about not only English, but also Chinese and other languages.    

As he said, the realisation of vision for 'prosperous Nepal, happy Nepali' would not be possible without the development of educational sector. Stating that the use of new and advanced technologies would help the nation make a noticeable stride in terms of development, the Minister said bearing this fact in mind, the state had accorded priority to the promotion of technology-friendly education.

"Internet has now been the source of learning for students," he said, adding that learners were free from the compulsion of depending on solely teachers and textbooks to learn something new and technology had made this possible.    

He was of the view of making the education system productive, civilized and cultured. He took time to say that learning-focused improvement for the enhancement of quality education was the need of community schools despite their richness in the status of physical infrastructures. He informed that results of science and math subjects were not satisfactory and the government was ensuring sufficient budget for the operation of science classes.