Mother Tongue-based Literacy Programmes: Case Studies of Good ...

© BASEBackground‘If we stop using our language, it will be the end of 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 of Southern Nepal.According to Nepal’s 2001 Census, there are 1,533,879ethnic Tharu (6.75% of Nepal’s total population), ofwhich 1,331,546 speak one of the seven Tharu dialects as a mother tongue.Including Tharu, Nepal has 102 languages. Nepali is the official national language. The abundance ofethnic languages demands their protection and development. Some of these languages have only oraltradition, while others also have literary traditions. Furthermore, there are languages that have their ownscript. Many of these languages are classified as endangered, and others are at the verge of extinctionbecause of the state-imposed monolingual policy and decreased utility of 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 of monolingual practice is observed in the classroom, and the mothertongues of 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 of instruction - an initiation of a system thatwas followed by other succeeding educational plans (NESP, 1970). It was only after the restoration ofdemocracy in 1990 that the issue of Nepal’s multi-lingual society and its implications on education cameto light. Consequently, the Constitution of the kingdom of Nepal (1990; article 3:18:1&2) provided theright for every group of 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 of 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 ]