NEPALA mother tongue-<strong>based</strong> literacy programmefor the Tharu ethnic group
© BASEBackground‘If we stop using our language, it will be the end <strong>of</strong> ourculture and tradition and we will loose.’Kirant, Magar and Khas form a triangular culture calledNepal (Subedi, 2062 BS). Kirants are further classifiedinto five categories (NFFIN & NFDIN, 2004), namely“Endangered,” “Highly Marginalized,” “Marginalized,”“Disadvantaged” and “Advantaged.” Tharus belongto the Marginalized category. Tharus are indigeniouspeople living in the Terai plains <strong>of</strong> Southern Nepal.According to Nepal’s 2001 Census, there are 1,533,879ethnic Tharu (6.75% <strong>of</strong> Nepal’s total population), <strong>of</strong>which 1,331,546 speak one <strong>of</strong> the seven Tharu dialects as a mother tongue.Including Tharu, Nepal has 102 languages. Nepali is the <strong>of</strong>ficial national language. The abundance <strong>of</strong>ethnic languages demands their protection and development. Some <strong>of</strong> these languages have only oraltradition, while others also have literary traditions. Furthermore, there are languages that have their ownscript. Many <strong>of</strong> these languages are classified as endangered, and others are at the verge <strong>of</strong> extinctionbecause <strong>of</strong> the state-imposed monolingual policy and decreased utility <strong>of</strong> other languages in the jobmarket, among the media and in daily life.Experience shows that schools have been the strong “state apparatus” to strengthen Nepali and limitother languages. Due to the little or no priority given to languages other than Nepali, they remainunderdeveloped. This has brought about burning social problems over the years (Dahal, 1999). Evenin the present context, the trend <strong>of</strong> monolingual practice is observed in the classroom, and the mothertongues <strong>of</strong> the minorities have been largely neglected. As a result, many children face difficulties in theireducation (Awasthi, 2004). The monolingual practice was emphasized when the second educationalplan (ARNEC, 1962) advocated Nepali as the medium <strong>of</strong> instruction - an initiation <strong>of</strong> a system thatwas followed by other succeeding educational plans (NESP, 1970). It was only after the restoration <strong>of</strong>democracy in 1990 that the issue <strong>of</strong> Nepal’s multi-lingual society and its implications on education cameto light. Consequently, the Constitution <strong>of</strong> the kingdom <strong>of</strong> Nepal (1990; article 3:18:1&2) provided theright for every group <strong>of</strong> people to promote and protect their own language, scripts and mother tongueeducation. Similarly, the succeeding education plans (NEC, 1992, HEC, 2000) championed mothertongue education. During the Basic and Primary Education Project (BPEP) I and II (1991 – 2001), primaryeducation materials were developed to provide mother tongue education in seven languages: Newari,Maithali, Tharu, Abhadhi, Limbu, Tamang, and Bhojpuri. Later on, such types <strong>of</strong> materials in additionalsix languages were also prepared. These languages included Magar, Rai, Bantawa, Gurung, Sherpa andChamling. Thus, to date, primary school materials in 12 languages have been developed and used inNepal (CRED, 2005, Chirag, 2000).National and international agencies and individuals have also reiterated the need and their supportfor mother tongue education (Curriculum Development Centre [CDC)] 2004 - 2009; NCLPR, 2051 BS;Fishman1968 cited in CRED, 2005; and UNESCO, 1951). The National Commission Language PolicyReport (NCLPR, 2051 BS) recommended a “3-language” policy to include the mother tongue, Nepali as[ 130 ]
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Mother Tongue-basedLiteracy Program
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Mother Tongue-based Literacy Progra
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ContentsAcronymsviPartI 1Mother Ton
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AcronymsIndiaZSSTLCPLPCEIPCLGZSSSRC
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PartI
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Mother TongueLiteracy Programmesin
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Entrenchment of the common (majorit
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Table 1: Linguistic Contexts of the
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It may be noted that there is no re
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“If we stop using our language, i
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their normal lives and communicatio
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the project ensured that community
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Also, it was important to identify
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conservation. Tharu traditional pra
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In Thailand, participation in schoo
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would there be projects to cover al
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© UNESCO/D. Riewpituk
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BackgroundBangladesh is a delta lan
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As a consequence, literacy rates am
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Orthography DevelopmentDuring early
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and discussion in the plenary, age-
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qualifications in the tribal commun
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Before opening the school, the rese
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Networking with Other Organizations
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A small baseline study was conducte
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parents of the children studying in
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Awareness Creation and Opinion Form
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Table 2: At-a-Glance Status of MT S
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Tasks for National and Internationa
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© POEYS
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BackgroundCurrent Situation of Mino
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of instruction, but the Bunong chil
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Process and Cost of Developing and
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vocabulary, containing only sounds
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Impact of the ProjectImpact on Educ
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NetworkingThe MoEYS and UNESCO have
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Komly Boek: Bilingual NFE TeacherMy
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© Norman Geary
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BackgroundThe Kam 1 of south centra
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‘Rice feeds the body, songs feed
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(Putonghua) in education. Neverthel
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