RESEARCH BRIEF (Unofficial English Translation) Brief: RA/2006/04 Brief: RF/2006/02
May 2009 December 2008
Effectiveness of Mother Tongue Education in Limbu Language for Education Inclusion
Research by: Ambar Jang Limbu Research Apprentice, 2006
Supported by: Social Inclusion Research Fund (SIRF)
This research brief is summarised version of the complete research report. For the complete research report please contact
[email protected]
1. General Background: Language is the unique characteristic of humankind. In Loreto Todd’s word1, “A language is a set of signals by which we communicate.” Language is one of the most effective mean to communicate opinion, experience and knowledge. Specifically, language can not be judged in term of superiority or inferiority for the communication.
system, Nepal implemented the policy of “One Country, One Language” which commenced the dark age of Limbu language and Limbu Language education. Likewise, the reports of further Education Commission also continued this policy.
Nepal is linguistically diverse country. It has the dialects from four language family namely: Indo-European (15 Language), Sino-Tibetan (19 Language), Austro-Asiatic (1 Language) and Dravidian (1 Language). Likewise, Population Census 2001 reports that there are 92 languages in Nepal2. Among them, Limbu is one of the languages of Far Eastern Nepal which is used by Limbu community residing in 9 districts of Mechi and Koshi zone. The original place of Limbu community’s residence is called Limbuwan. The language family tree of Limbu language is provided in annex 1. The Population Census 2001 reveals that there are total of 359, 255 population in the Limbu community. In Limbu language, Limbu call their language as “Yakthumba” and call themself as “Yakthumba Pan”
Constitution of Nepal 1991 formed after People Movement 1990 states Nepal as “Multi Caste and Multi Linguistic” country but this constitution also has provisions of some discriminatory clause as sub section 1 of section 6 states “Nepali Language written in Devnagaric script is the official language of Nepal” and all other mother tongues are just placed in annex of the constitution which ranks Nepali as first level language of the country. Nevertheless, this constitution has the provision that “Each community can operate the school with education in mother tongue upto primary level”. In the sprit of the constitutional provision of mother tongue education, National Language Policy Advisory Commission was formed on 14th Jestha 2050 BS3 under the Chairmanship of Prof. Bairagi Kaila which submitted the report suggesting “Mother Tongue as Means of Primary Education”.
Limbu Mother Tongue Education: In Nepal, the education of Limbu mother tongue initiated in 1952 in class 1 to 3 level in then Jayanarayan School (Now Jayanarayan High School) located at Angsarang (Mehelbot) of Panchthar district. But, this initiation later got discontinued as the government implemented the suggestions of the report submitted by Nepal National Education Commission formed under the chairmanship of Sardar Rudra Raj Panday. In the page 107 and 108 of the report, it is stated that “There is an immediate need to take out local language other than Nepali from the student’s daily routine in school and its playground.” With the institutionalisation of autocratic Panchayat
Likewise, country adopted Education for All (2001 to 2015) policy which assures the right of the children to educate in the indigenous mother tongue upto primary level. Further, in the report submitted by Nepal National Commission for UNESCO, it is stated that “All language communities have the right to decide to what extent their language is to be present, as a vernacular language and as an object of study, at all levels of education within their territory, pre-school, primary, secondary, technical, and vocational, university, and adult education”4. In essence of these policy measures, the government made the program of mother tongue education for 6000 schools by preparing the textbook for different mother tongue. In 2055 BS, 3
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Toddd, Loreto. 1987. An Introduction to Linguistic. 2 Central Bureau of Statistics. 20002. Population of Nepal: Village Development Committee/ Municipalities Population Census 2001. Kathmandu: Government of Nepal. RESEARCH BRIEF: Effectiveness of Mother Tongue Education in Limbu Language
BS refers to Bikram Sambat which is official calendar of Nepal which is different than Georgian calendar 4 Nepal National Commission for UNESCO. 2003 Educational for All National Plan of Action Nepal, (2001-2015). Kathmandu. PP 12 Social Inclusion Research Fund (SIRF)/SNV Nepal
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government initiated education in 6 mother tongues including Limbu and its implementation reached upto class 5 by 2059 BS. Now, the mother tongue education has encompassed 14 languages latest of which is Sunuwar and Rajbanshi language in 2063 BS. New Interim constitution of Nepal 2063 BS constituted after the historical people’s movement 2006 has again adopted narrow provision on mother tongue education. The subsection 1 of section 6 has provisioned “All mother tongue dialects as national language of Nepal” but subsection 6 of same section has provisioned “Devnagari script of Nepali language as official language of Nepal” which again discriminates the languages other than Nepali. Further, subsection 1 of section 17 defining civic right has provisioned that “the right of each community on mother tongue education is only in the fundamental level education as per the legal provision” which confine the mother tongue education at all educational level. In consistence to the background, the study explores on how effectively the mother tongue education of Limbu language has contributed to the inclusion of Limbu community in the mainstream education. 2. Literature Survey: Imansingh Chomjong has studied on Limbu language, literature and grammar. He has also studies on pronunciation in Limbu language while developing Kirat script. Likewise, there are many studies [Van Driem George.(1987)5, Charles B. Jr. Manneman (1971) and Boyd Michailovsky (1974)6] on Limbu language, literature and grammar. Department of Education7 has also conducted a study on Mother Tongue Intervention at Primary Level in 2002/03 in which there are discussions on the
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Van Driem, George. 1987. A Grammar of Limbu. Berlin. New York. Amsterdam: Mouton de Gruyter. 6 Michailovosky, Boyd. 1975. Notes on the Kirati Verses (Eastern Nepal). LTBA 2.2:239. 7 Department of Education. 2006. Annual Strategic Implementation Plan. Bhaktapur, Nepal: Department of Education RESEARCH BRIEF: Effectiveness of Mother Tongue Education in Limbu Language
effectiveness of mother tongue education and its delivery mechanism. 3. Statement of Problem: Nepal is the multi ethnical, multi linguistic and multi religious country but there is substantial discrimination due to the culture of “one language – Nepali, one religion- Hindu and one culture – Hill Brahmin”. So, presently, there are significant discourses on social inclusion of which education inclusion and mother tongue education are the prime issues. There are the issues on: Why the populace with own indigenous mother tongue has less access to education?; Why the children of these communities are not attending the school?; and Why there is high drop out in these communities’ children? There are needs to identify on: How the educational status of indigenous communities can be improved?; How effective are the scholarship distribution and education reservation schemes in the educational inclusion?; Can community management of school address the issues of poor mother tongue education and meet education for all goal?; and Can the one language policy of the country contribute to preserve and develop the other mother tongue languages? 4. Objective of the Study: In consistence to the statement of problem, the study has following objectives: • • •
Availability of Teachers and Textbook for Mother Tongue Education Impact of Mother Tongue Education in Limbu Language on Student Enrolment Impact of Mother Tongue Education in Learning level of Student
5. Research Design: The study is based on both primary and secondary data. The primary data has collected through field survey based on the under mentioned population sampling. Population Sampling: The study has adapted the Purposive Sampling method to select the place of study and adopted Lottery Method of Random Sampling method to select student. Further, the teachers, parents, School
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Management Committee (SMC) members and officials District Education Office have been selected on the basis of purposive sampling. The teachers, students and officials District Education Office have been surveyed using Structure Questionnaire and Parents and School Management Committee members have been surveyed using Focal Group Discussion guided by the check list. In term of place of survey, the study has selected four schools with mother tongue education in Limbu language that are located in the area where higher portion of Limbu community reside. These four school are: i) Shree Salanga Higher Secondary School located at Yangnam of Pachthar District; ii) Shree Saraswoti High School located at Sikaucha of Taplejung District; iii) Shree Janashikcha Sadan Primary School located at Rajarani of Dhankuta District and iv) Shree Harihar Primary School located at Jirikhimti of Terathum District. In term of student selection, the sample consists at least 25 percent of students reading Aani Pan (Textbook of Limbu Language) from each four school. In some schools, all students are also included in the sample. The gender wise representations of sample members are provided below in table 1.
Secondary School and 7 Primary School in Yangnam VDC of Pachthar; there are 1 Higher Secondary School and 5 Primary School in Jirikhimti VDC of Terathum; and there are 1 Higher Secondary School; 1 Lower Secondary School and 5 Primary Level School in Rajarani VDC of Dhankuta.
Table 1: Gender Wise Representation of Sample Members
Table 3: Linguistic Distribution in the Selected VDC
Details Boys/ Male Student 22 Parents 14 SMC Members 30 (Source: Field Survey)
Girls/ Female 19 13 6
6. Analysis of the Study: The areas of study for education inclusion under Mother Tongue Education of Limbu language are from one school each from one Village Development Committee (VDC) of one district of which the districts are selected two each from Mechi and Koshi zone under Limbuwan area. 6.1 Social Status of VDC under Surveyed Area: In term of availability of school, there are 1 high school, 1 Lower Secondary School, and 4 Primary Schools in Singoja VDC of Taplejung; there are 1 Higher Secondary School, 1 Lower
RESEARCH BRIEF: Effectiveness of Mother Tongue Education in Limbu Language
In term of Limbu residence, the population of Limbu is higher than 50 percent in the three of the surveyed VDC and Jirikhimti VDC of Terathum has Limbu population share of 37 percent [Table 2]. Table2: Population Distribution of Limbu in Surveyed VDC Details Population Share (%) Singoja VDC of Taplejung Limbu 1579 63.08 Other 924 36.92 Yangnam VDC of Pachthar Limbu 4531 82.41 Other 967 17.59 Jirikhimti VDC of Terathum Limbu 1285 37.30 Other 2160 62.70 Rajarani VDC of Dhankuta Limbu 1573 56.40 Other 1216 43.60 (Source: Central Bureau of Statistics)
The linguistic distribution of the surveyed VDCs are provided in Table 3 below
Surveyed VDC
Limbu
Nepali
Rai
Other
886
72
40
35.4
2.9
1.60
Singoja VDC of Taplejung Population
1505
Percent 60.13 Yangnam VDC of Pachthar Population 4399
766
Percent 80.01 13.93 Jirikhimti VDC of Terathum Population 1297 1630 Percent 37.65 47.31 Rajarani VDC of Dhankuta Population 1544 335 Percent 55.36 12.01 (Source: Central Bureau of Statistics)
112
221
2.04
4.02
13 0.38
505 14.66
840 30.1
70 2.51
6.2 Necessity of Mother Tongue Education: The core document of Nepal’s Education for All Program reveals that 50 percent of Nepal’s population speaks mother tongue other than Nepali. The Social Inclusion Research Fund (SIRF)/SNV Nepal
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document also pinpoints that: children feel easy in learning while teaching in mother tongue; the mother tongue education will preserve and enhance the ethnic and cultural identity such language; there will be proper transfer of ethnical identity and knowledge from one generation to other and there will be enough opportunity of employment. 6.3. Status of Mother Tongue Education in Limbu Language in Surveyed School: There is mother tongue education of Limbu since last 9 years in Shree Harihar Primary School of Terathum district. Likewise, it dates back 8 years in case of Shree Khalanga Higher Secondary School of Pachthar; 7 year in case of Shree Janashikcha Sadan Primary School of Dhankuta and 6 years in case of Shree Saraswoti High School of Taplejung. Further, Shree Saraswoti High School and Shree Harihar Primary School have 6 periods each in a week and Shree Khalanga Higher Secondary School and Shree Janashikcha Sadan Primary School have two periods each in a week. 6.4 Availability of Textbook of Limbu Language (Aani Pan): The table of annex 2 reveals that only 30 percent of the students in the field surveyed are has text book of Limbu language which signifies that there is serious problem in term of availability of the textbooks of Limbu language Due to unavailability of textbook, teacher teaches by writing alphabet, chart and figure with the help of Alphabet Table and dictionary. In the surveyed schools, it has been found that there is not proper monitoring and supervision in the distribution of Limbu language textbook. There are some supports from Kirat Yakthum Chumlung network in the distribution of Limbu language textbook. 6.5 Problem of Mother Tongue Teachers: The mother tongue teachers of Limbu language are found less paid in the surveyed schools. Some of such cases of the surveyed school are: A volunteer teacher of Limbu language in Shree Harihar Primary School is paid NRs. 500 RESEARCH BRIEF: Effectiveness of Mother Tongue Education in Limbu Language
per month which is the lowest of salary to all teachers. Likewise, NRs. 1500 per month is the highest pay scale for the teacher of Limbu language in the school operated under the private fund. The dictionary, alphabetic table and some newspaper and magazines are the only source of self- study resources for the teachers of Limbu language. In the surveyed school, there are only one teacher from Shree Harihar Primary School and Shree Saraswoti High School each who have received informal training of Kirat Yakthum Chumlung. In the surveyed schools, there is no recruitment of teachers of Limbu language from government despite the continuous demand of such since1998/ 99, the academic session of Limbu textbook preparation. 6.6 Impact of Mother Tongue Education: Despite the Annual Strategic Plan of Department of Education under Ministry of Education8 reveals that the primary enrolment rate for 2005 stands at 86.8 percent and increase to 90 percent in 2006, there is no increase in the enrolment of student in the surveyed school in academic session of 2002/ 03 and 2003/ 04. In terms of positive impact, the student with Limbu mother tongue often uses Limbu dialect to communicate with their teacher in Shree Janashikcha Sadan Primary School. Likewise, 13 non native Limbu students of same school are also reading and enjoy Limbu language class. In Shree Saraswoti High School and Shree Harihar Primary School where there have 6 periods per a week for Limbu language, the improvement is better than the other two schools - Shree Khalanga Higher Secondary School and Shree Janashikcha Sadan Primary School – where they have two periods per a week for Limbu language. The students reading Limbu language are found to have good writing and reading knowledge of Devnagaric, Roman and Kirati scripts. In
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term of exam mark, the non native Limbu students have also scored well in Limbu langauge. In many classes, it has been found that the first and second rank children are from Limbu community. There is rampant poverty in Limbu community which has significantly affects the education of Limbu. 6.7 Hindrance of Mother Tongue Education: The study has identified three levels of hindrance in mother tongue education which are discussed below: Hindrance at Policy Level: Constitution of Nepal 1990 has provisioned each community children’s right on mother tongue education for upto primary level. Likewise, the sub section 1 of section 17 of Nepal’s Interim Constitution 2063 BS has provisioned each community’s right on mother tongue education in fundamental education. Both of these provisions confine the mother tongue education from all education level. Hindrance of Teacher’s Quota and Trained Teacher: As discussed before, there is no proper recruitment of the teachers for Limbu language and there is serious lag of the trained teachers for Limbu language. These circumstances disturb the smooth running of Limbu language classes in the school. Hindrance due to Less Access of Related Communities in Decision Making Level: The indigenous and backward communities including Limbu have less access in decision making level so there are substantially less policy and implementation measures for the mother tongue education. 7. Conclusion and Recommendation: The initiation of mother tongue education is an important measure because it facilitate
RESEARCH BRIEF: Effectiveness of Mother Tongue Education in Limbu Language
to preserve and develop the script, culture, custom and knowledge associate with the mother tongue language. There are problem in term of publication and distribution of mother tongue language textbook and the status is similar in term of availability of trained teachers. Further, the mother tongue teachers face problem of: limited recruitment, less salary and inadequate training. Summing the analysis, the study has made following recommendations: •
Mother tongue education of Limbu should not be made optional in the school course structure. It should be made regular course with equal weightage as other subject. Further, the other subjects’ class should also be conducted in mother tongue.
•
So far, the local mother tongue communities have to initiate on education of mother tongue and its textbook management. But, the government needs to be responsible in mother tongue education for effective and fruitful implementation.
•
Mother tongue should also be legitimized as official language for effective implementation of mother tongue education.
•
Government should be made responsible for effective publication and distribution of mother tongue textbook. It should not be designated to NGO as Kirat Yakthum Chumlung is designated for distribution of Limbu language textbook. District Education Office or concern body should be made responsible for distribution of the textbooks of mother tongue in the hand of all students at the beginning of academic session.
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•
Annex 1: Tree of Limbu’s Language Family Sino- Tibetan Sino
Tibetan Burmese
Western
Eastern
Nothern
North Western Himali Kirati
Southern
North Eastern Bodhika
Newari
Rai Language Group
Dhimal
Limbu
(Source: Limbu, Nepali and English Dictionary9)
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Nepal Academic Institution. 2059 BS. Limbu Nepali English Dictionary. Kathmandu
RESEARCH BRIEF: Effectiveness of Mother Tongue Education in Limbu Language
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Annex 2: Availability of Limbu Language Textbook (Aani Pan ) in the Surveyed Schools Name of School Shree Salanga Higher Secondary School located at Yangnam of Pachthar District;
Shree Harihar Primary School located at Jiri of Terathum District.
Shree Saraswoti High School located at Sikaucha of Taplejung District; Shree Janashikcha Sadan Primary School located at Rajarani of Dhankuta District
Class 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 1 2 3
Total (Source: Field Survey)
RESEARCH BRIEF: Effectiveness of Mother Tongue Education in Limbu Language
Number of Student
Number of Textbook of Limbu
Percent with Textbook Available
31 21 29 22 36 30 43 25 25 22 29 16 18 15 12 7 381
7 6 4 4 4 10 10 7 8 6 10 6 8 10 8 7 115
22.58 28.57 13.79 18.18 11.11 33.33 23.26 28.00 32.00 27.27 34.48 37.50 44.44 66.67 66.67 100.00 30.18
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Social Inclusion Research Fund (SIRF): An Introduction As a follow-up to an assessment of Norwegian support to NGOs in Nepal (2001), the Royal Norwegian Embassy, Kathmandu, envisaged a need to stimulate further research on processes of national building, social exclusion and poverty, and the role of the civil society in Nepal. As per the report titled “Social Exclusion and Nation building – Assessment of prospects for enhancing the role of research and research institutions in Nepal” (June 2003), the Government of Nepal and Royal Norwegian Embassy at Kathmandu, agreed in 2005, to establish a Research Fund and support research cooperation between a Norwegian and a Nepali research institution to carry out research on issues of social exclusion. SNV Nepal was invited to manage the research fund. The main objectives of the Social Inclusion Research Fund (SIRF) are as follows:
Produce high quality and critical research on causes of social exclusion in Nepal and ways to accommodate and manage diversity. Make social science research more relevant to excluded and disadvantaged groups and their agendas. Ensure that research more effectively contributes to policy and public debate and a deliberative democratic process
A total of 25 Research Fellowships were awarded in 2006 and 2007. A total of 150 Apprenticeship Grants have been awarded in 2006 and 2007. Two Norwegian research institutions and five Nepali research institutions are cooperating in carrying out research and have published eight research papers. SIRF is in the process of carrying out policy dialogue with the political party leaders, government agencies and civil society organisation through dissemination of critical discourse related to the outcome of the research programme, as well as allowing for advocacy groups to “take back” and use the research results for their own purpose. SIRF is also working with political party leaders and Constituent Assembly (CA) members to make the Constitution more inclusive. The Government of Nepal is initiating the process of making the Fund an independent autonomous body under the new law to be enacted by parliament.
Social Inclusion Research Fund (SIRF) Secretariat, SNV Nepal Bakhundole, Lalitpur, P.O. Box 1966, Kathmandu, Nepal Telephone: +977-[0] 1-5523444, Telefax: +977-[0] 1-5523155
E-mail:
[email protected], Website: www.socialinclusion.org.np; www.snvworld.org
RESEARCH BRIEF: Effectiveness of Mother Tongue Education in Limbu Language
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