By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Aug. 2: The Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has made Nepal Bhasa language a mandatory part of school curriculum for all students from Grade I to Grade VIII. Nepal Bhasa is a compulsory subject not only in community schools but also in all the private education institutions operating within KMC’s jurisdiction.
According to Motiraj Khanal, Education Officer of KMC, the Metropolitan Office has already deployed 172 teachers in 89 community schools of its territory from this academic session to formally teach the local curriculum. All of the tutors have been hand-picked from KMC’s internal resources. Should KMC’s move be successfully implemented across all schools in the Metropolis, every student will have an additional subject (bearing a total mark of 100) to study.
Several stakeholders, however, aren’t too keen on KMC’s decision to meddle with the existing curriculum and add an additional subject. Private schools, in particular, have demanded with KMC to review its decision.
Tikaram Puri, Chairperson of Private and Boarding Schools Organization Nepal (PABSON), said it is wrong to think that there are only Newar students in Kathmandu. “Kathmandu is a melting pot of diverse cultures. People from all across the country relocate to the Capital City in search of better opportunities. Majority of the students here are non-Newars, and will be at great disadvantage as they compete against native speakers,” he said. Like Puri, academicians believe that the course will invariably favour Kathmandu-born Newars while singling out students from other ethnicities.
“It is simply not justifiable for every student to suddenly take Newa language as a compulsory subject,” added Suprabhat Bhandari, Chairperson of the National Guardian Federation.
Despite drawing flak from the education sector, KMC has already purchased and distributed textbooks worth Rs. 6 million. “So far, we have distributed the course books to about 26,000 students of 89 community schools in collaboration with Nepal Academy,” informed Education Officer Khanal.
Defending KMC’s move, Khanal has urged opponents of Nepal Bhasa course to first understand the course contents before lashing out. “Most of the contents in the books are in Devanagari script, which is accessible to everyone.
The language isn’t the only part of the subject matter. The course will provide an in-depth look into Newa cultural heritage, history and so on,” he explained.
Knowledge of diverse languages, and culture is definitely a plus point in today’s competitive environment, as per Khanal.