Two schools in western Dang have started educating students in their mother tongue. Owing to this, the number of students in classrooms is increasing.
Under the initiative of a non-governmental organization, these schools provide education in the Tharu language. Textbooks prepared by Sahayog Samaj Nepal are being used for educating students these days. The management committees of the schools, District Education Office and local villagers have joined hands to ensure that students are not deprived of education just because they do not understand the language in which classes are conducted.
These schools have been conducting classes in Tharu language for the past two years, according to Shram Lal Chaudhary, the chairman of the NGO. The Bal Chetana Lower Secondary School in Dhamakapur and the Ratri Primary School in Daljitpur have been conducting classes in the Tharu language.
Sahayog Samaj is working to make sure that other schools in the district too adopt such multilingual teaching practice.
In the Tharu-dominated areas where these two schools are located, language used to be a serious constraint for students.
“Even those students who got enrolled in schools were dropping out,” said Meghraj Lamsal, the principal of Bal Chetana Lower Secondary School. “However, now they are coming back to school.”
Lamsal said enrollment has doubled this year compared to last year. This year, there are 55 students in the first grade, and 50 in the second grade, both double from last year.
“Until a few years ago, enrollment was limited to the school register and classes were empty. Now, absenteeism has dropped drastically,” he added.
Using its internal resources, the school has arranged a special teacher to conduct classes in the Tharu language. The teacher, who was trained by Samaj Nepal, repeats his tutoring in the Nepali language too, so that other students are not left out.
Though the government has the policy of encouraging education in multiple languages, it has not created posts for multilingual teachers.
The textbooks in the Tharu language used in the school are in accordance with those of the Curriculum Development Board.
According to Chaudhary, efforts have been initiated to used the textbooks in Bardiya district too, while samples of the textbooks have also been sent to half-a-dozen other districts.
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