Subjects are taught in English in most of the private educational institutions with the exception of Nepali language. [break]
Most of the public institutions still provide an all-round Nepali education, however. Offering an English based education may have a lot of perks but does prioritizing a foreign language over a local one lead to cultural isolation? Do grooming small kids in English lead them farther away from their own culture and language?
Maybe kids are moving farther away from their own language but Nepali is still dominating many ways of communication.
Students go home to a household that functions around Nepali, they speak with their friends in Nepali and they communicate with the society in Nepali.
No matter how English-based their education might be, there still remains the fact that Nepali language is the mother-tongue and to separate the mother-tongue from a child’s developmental cycle is almost impossible.
“We understand that this ‘English invasion’ cannot be good for our own language,” says DK Dhungana, General Secretary at Private and Boarding School’s Organization, Nepal (PABSON), adding, “but it’s very early to say anything at the moment.
This is just the beginning phase and children always seem to find it easier to communicate informally in Nepali. In this technological and the global-village era, these kids need a language that enables them to be a global-citizen. So although, English seems to be gaining popularity amongst educational institutions, there always remains an informal use of Nepali so it doesn’t really make a difference at all.”
Rapid globalization and the concept of global village have shrunken the world. With racing advances in technological sciences, communication with people from all around the world has been made easier.
The main essence that glues together this internet community, however, is the universal language of English that the whole world has come to embrace.
On the internet, you need English to perform the most basic of tasks like searching or communicating with strangers.
Educational pursuits aboard also come into play here since countries like America, UK or Australia offer rigorous education in English.
An English-proficiency test is absolutely necessary for any educational pursuit aboard.
“With English, the whole world opens up to you,” says 14-year-old Vaishally Shah, a ninth grader at St. Mary’s School in Kathmandu. “There are many possibilities, world-wide and I think education primarily in Nepali only restricts. We opt for education aboard, we communicate with people from different countries and without English, I think none of this would be possible,” she adds.
Although most students agree that their skill in English must be unquestionable to score good jobs and to pursue career options aboard, the fact still remains that Nepali language is suffering.
Parents force their children to work very hard on ‘important’ subjects like English or Math and are fine if they ‘just pass’ Nepali. Even while writing in Nepali, students, along with certain media, introduce English words.
So the Nepali language not only seems to be losing speakers but also mutating into a mixture of Nepali and English.
“It’s partly the parent’s fault as well,” says Krishna Prasad Ghimire, the Nepali Department Head at Bhanu Bhakta Memorial School.
“I have experienced so many parents who are happy if their children just pass in Nepali and their priorities are on more important subjects like Math or Science. Our language is part of our culture and people who come back from foreign countries always feel the need for individuality. They understand that our culture and our traditions are what make us who we are and that is the most important thing. I think people should focus on Nepali because it is our language. We have started implementing English words into Nepali sentences, started ignoring rules because students have started losing respect for the language,” he adds.
Although English does seem to be dominating as the universal language, there is always a need for individuality, a need for a culture that differentiates us from the rest of the crowd.
Nepali is a language that is our own and very different from English. And in this age of globalization and western-cultural influence, we might find it very difficult to celebrate individuality and holding on to fading traditions and language, maybe the easiest steps to retaining that very individuality.
In an English dominated world, loving one’s language is celebrating individuality.
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