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A N U A R Y 2
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1
9
Baseline Report
Prepared for VSO Nepal
and the Language
Commission of Nepal
1
Prepared by Naomi Fillmore
Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Education Specialist
Contact: naomi.fillmore@gmail.com
The author acknowledges Dr. Prem Phyak of Tribhuvan University and Helen Horton of VSO
Nepal for peer reviewing baseline tools, Peter Graif of the Open Institute for data analysis
assistance, and Jnanu Paudel and Freya Perry of VSO Nepal for review and feedback.
Published in January 2019
Cover photo courtesy by VSO International
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CONTENTS
1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................................... 4
2. SUMMARY OF THE ACTIVITY .............................................................................................................................. 6
3.1 Plan .................................................................................................................................................... 6
3.2 Municipality Selection ...................................................................................................................... 6
3.3 School selection ............................................................................................................................... 8
3.4 Launch ............................................................................................................................................... 9
3. METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................................................................... 10
4.1 Sampling .......................................................................................................................................... 10
4.2 Tools .................................................................................................................................................. 10
4.3 Data collection and analysis ........................................................................................................ 12
4.4 Limitations ........................................................................................................................................ 12
4. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION ........................................................................................................................... 13
5.1 Parent Perception Survey .............................................................................................................. 13
5.2 Teacher Perception Survey ........................................................................................................... 15
5.3 Student Perception Survey ............................................................................................................ 17
5.4 Student Assessment ........................................................................................................................ 18
5.5 Classroom practice ........................................................................................................................ 19
5. RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................................................... 23
6. CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................................. 25
ANNEX 1: BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................................................................................................... 26
ANNEX 2: CONCEPT NOTE .................................................................................................................................... 28
ANNEX 3: FULL SAMPLE SIZE BY LOCATION .............................................................................................................. 33
ANNEX 4: PARENTAL PERCEPTIONS BY EDUCATION LEVEL .......................................................................................... 34
ANNEX 5: TEACHER ACTIVITY BY LOCATION ............................................................................................................. 35
ANNEX 6: STUDENT ACTIVITY BY LOCATION .............................................................................................................. 36
3
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 School Selection Criteria .........................................................................................................................8
Table 2 Temal School Selection Criteria Summary ...........................................................................................8
Table 3 Phidim School Selection Criteria Summary ..........................................................................................9
Table 4 Sample size .............................................................................................................................................. 10
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Summary of baseline findings ................................................................................................................5
Figure 2 Target municipality demographics ......................................................................................................7
Figure 3 Launch Event in Temal ............................................................................................................................9
Figure 4 Launch Event in Phidim ..........................................................................................................................9
Figure 5 Parental Perception Survey results by Location.............................................................................. 14
Figure 6 Parental Perception Survey results by gender ................................................................................ 15
Figure 7 Teacher Perception Survey results by location ............................................................................... 16
Figure 8 Teacher Perception Survey results by gender ................................................................................ 17
Figure 9 Student Perception Survey results by location ................................................................................ 18
Figure 10 Student Letter Recognition results by location ............................................................................. 19
Figure 11 Student Letter Recognition results by gender ............................................................................... 19
Figure 12 Student engagement by use of mother tongue .......................................................................... 20
Figure 13 Materials available by location ....................................................................................................... 21
Figure 14 Language use in Temal ..................................................................................................................... 21
Figure 15 Language use in Phidim .................................................................................................................... 22
Figure 16 Use of materials in both locations ................................................................................................... 23
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1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Nepal is a diverse and multilingual nation, with more than 123 languages recorded in the most recent
census, collected in 2011(Government of Nepal, 2012, p. 4). The Government of Nepal is committed
to maintaining the country’s rich linguistic landscape and reflecting it within its education system –
article 31(5) states that “every Nepali community living in Nepal shall have the right to acquire
education in its mother tongue up to the secondary level”. The School Sector Development Plan
further emphasises this commitment (Government of Nepal, 2015, 2016).
The Language Commission of Nepal and VSO Nepal have entered into a partnership to implement
a mother tongue based multilingual education (MTB MLE) activity and provide a positive model for
Nepal of how to achieve this commitment. The purpose of the activity is:
1. To build an effective, practical, and resourced model of MTB MLE in six schools;
2. To build support for and understanding of MTB MLE in two municipalities; and
3. To document the process undertaken to achieve the above outcomes, and to facilitate replication
of this process in other locations.
Prior to beginning implementation of this activity, a baseline study was conducted in both target
locations. The purpose of this baseline is to: 1) set benchmarks at the beginning of the activity against
which the impact of the activity will be measured against; and 2) to provide a comprehensive
situational analysis of the target locations to inform the activity design.
Key stakeholders, who are vital to the success of the activity, have been included as respondents in
the baseline study: parents/guardians; teachers; students; and early grade classes. This report
presents the results for each participant group and discusses the implications of these results for the
design and implementation of the activity.
Wide support for mother tongue-based education was found among parents, guardians, and
teachers. All parents in Phidim and about half of the parents in Temal stated that they preferred their
children to learn in their mother tongue. Awareness and advocacy efforts may build on this positive
sentiment to create momentum around the model building activity.
Though most teachers understood the positive role of mother tongue languages for learning, they
did not feel that they had the resources or abilities to switch to a mother tongue-based program at
this time. The model building activity therefore will need to focus on building teachers’ pedagogical
skills and access to resources. Mixed levels of understand of the role of the mother tongue on second
and third languages was noted and should be clarified among teachers during training workshops.
Students responded positively to statements about their schooling experience. Many students
affirmed that their teachers were already encouraging them to use the mother tongue. Though the
quality of the data collected on student learning outcomes was mixed, for the letter recognition
component, students were only able to correctly recognise around one third of Nepali letters shown
to them. Girls were able to recognise more letters than boys.
Classroom observations provided an interesting insight into current teaching practices in early
grades. Teachers in both locations were found to be using the mother tongue to a limited degree,
with Phidim teachers making much greater usage of the mother tongue compared to those in Temal.
However, Nepali was the most dominant language used in both locations. Further qualitative
observations are necessary to better understand the ways in which teachers are currently using the
mother tongue and inform teacher training activities. Though time spent using the mother tongue
was limited, when it was used it was linked to higher levels of student engagement.
Materials available in the mother tongue were limited in Phidim, and non-existent in Temal. Teachers
were found to primarily be using the textbook, which is currently only available in Nepali language
for most subject areas. Training teachers to make their own supplementary materials in the mother
tongue and in more student-centred teaching practices is therefore likely to increase the time spent
using the mother tongue.
A summary of the baseline study findings is provided in Figure 1.
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Figure 1 Summary of baseline findings
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2. SUMMARY OF THE ACTIVITY
The concept note for this activity is provided in Annex 2, with key points summarised below.
3.1 Plan
The activity is planned in three stages, which will include the following activities:
• Phase 1 (August 2018 – March 2019): Phase 1 will include all the necessary preparatory steps
prior to implementation in the classroom, including school selection, material development, and
teacher capacity development. The baseline study was completed during this Phase.
• Phase 2 (April 2019 onwards): Phase 2, which will correspond to the 2019/2020 school year,
will involve implementation of MTB MLE in early grades classrooms. Classroom implementation
will be complemented by ongoing mentoring and monitoring, as well as mid-term and final
reviews. A mid- and end-line study will be conducted during Phase 2.
• Phase 3: It is anticipated that a third phase of this activity will be the eventual scale-up of the
activity by both partner municipalities and other interested municipalities. During Phase 3, all
financial resources should come from local municipality education budgets, with the Language
Commission providing ongoing technical support and sharing of developed learning materials.
Additional tracer studies may be commissioned during this phase.
3.2 Municipality Selection
Two municipalities were selected for this activity: Temal Rural Municipality, Kabhrepalanchok
District, and Phidim Municipality, Panchthar District. They were selected by the Language
Commission based on their prior consultations with municipality governments, where both
municipality governments had independently expressed interest in hosting a mother tongue-based
program. Descriptive data on the two selected municipalities is provided on the following pages.
7
Figure 2 Target municipality demographics
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3.3 School selection
School data was collected through a previous Language Commission study in the target areas
(Government of Nepal, 2017). The agreed criteria for school selection are outlined in Table 1.
Table 1 School Selection Criteria
Criteria 1
Above average number of students in Class
One
This criteria ensures that that the impact of the program
is felt by a sizeable group of students, and to provide a
wider database from which to draw conclusions and
recommendations from the activity.
Criteria 2
The majority of students in Class One speak
the target language (Tamang/Limbu) as their
mother tongue
This criteria assists in determining which schools are
more homogenous in their language practices. With
the time and resources available for this pilot activity,
its aim is to build a model for schools that represent a
homogenous language context. Approaches that are
effective for a school with students from homogenous
language backgrounds may not be effective in a school
with students from largely heterogeneous language
backgrounds. It is recommended that a separate
activity be commissioned to build a model for
heterogeneous schools.
Criteria 3
The majority of teachers in the selected
school speak the target language
(Tamang/Limbu) as their mother tongue
This criteria ensures that there are sufficient teachers
already within the school with the language ability to
teach in a Tamang- or Limbu-based program.
While it is preferable that selected schools meet all three criteria, it was agreed that schools meeting
two of three criteria could still be selected, particularly where there are other outstanding features
that warrant their inclusion in the activity.
Temal
The three schools selected in Temal are: Narayansthan Basic and Secondary School, Balka Lyan
Basic School, and Setidevi Basic School.
Table 2 Temal School Selection Criteria Summary
School
Criteria 1
Criteria 2
Criteria 3
Narayansthan Basic and
Secondary School
YES – 11 students are
enrolled in Class One
YES - 100% of students in
Class One speak Tamang
as their mother tongue
NO – only 35% of teachers
speak Tamang as their
mother tongue
Balka Lyan Basic School
YES – 10 students are
enrolled in Class One
YES - 100% of students in
Class One speak Tamang
as their mother tongue
YES - 100% of teachers
speak Tamang as their
mother tongue
Setidevi Basic School
YES – 9 students are
enrolled in Class One
YES - 88% of students in
Class One speak Tamang
as their mother tongue
YES - 75% of teachers
speak Tamang as their
mother tongue
Narayansthan school did not meet all three criteria (only 35 per cent of teachers speak Tamang as
a mother tongue) but was included on the strong recommendation of the local government resource
person. The resource person argued that the school is a model school
1
, that it was geographically
close to the municipal centre, that teachers spoke Tamang fluently (even when it was not their
reported mother tongue), and that there was a high degree of motivation among the school’s
teachers and leadership.
Interestingly, as a municipality, Temal is relatively homogenous in its linguistic makeup, with the
majority of students (75 per cent) in early grades speaking Tamang as their mother tongue across
1
Model Schools were setup by with funding from the Asian Development Bank and are now run by government. There are
around 1,000 model schools throughout Nepal and they receive additional support and budget to become an example
school for neighboring schools.
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the municipality. Other language groups represented in the early grades in Temal are Nepali, Newari,
Majhi, and Magar.
Phidim
The selected schools in Phidim are: Badhuk Basic School, Yangnam Basic School Mahakabi Basic
School. All schools selected in Phidim meet the selection criteria, as per Table 3.
Table 3 Phidim School Selection Criteria Summary
School
Criteria 1
Criteria 2
Criteria 3
Badhuk Basic School
YES – 10 students are
enrolled in Class One
YES - 100% of students in
Class One speak Limbu as
their mother tongue
YES – 100% of teachers
speak Limbu as their
mother tongue
Yangnam Basic School
YES – 6 students are
enrolled in Class One
YES - 100% of students in
Class One speak Limbu as
their mother tongue
YES - 100% of teachers
speak Limbu as their
mother tongue
Mahakabi Basic School
YES – 11 students are
enrolled in Class One
YES – 100% of students in
Class One speak Limbu as
their mother tongue
YES - 100% of teachers
speak Limbu as their
mother tongue
Phidim is less homogenous than Temal, with Limbu students making up about half of all early grade
students in the municipality. Other language groups represented in the early grades include Bantawa
and Rai.
3.4 Launch
The program launched in Temal from
the 20-21 November 2018, and in
Phidim the following month, on the 18-
19 December 2018. The launch
events aimed to build rapport with
local government and stakeholders
and confirm their support for the
proposed project.
The launch events brought together
the Chair and Secretary of the
Language Commission, VSO Nepal’s
Head of Inclusive Education, the
Municipality Mayor and Deputy Mayor,
Ward chairs, and from the local level,
school principals, chairs of school
management committee, chairs of
teacher-parent associations, and
journalists from both print and
electronic media.
Memorandums of Understanding
(MoU) between the Language
Commission and municipality
governments were signed in both
locations. MoUs cover the roles of the
municipalities, school authority,
parents, and community leaders in
promoting mother tongue education,
preserving language identity,
enhancing quality of education and
Figure 3 Launch Event in Temal
Figure 4 Launch Event in Phidim
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a successful transition of young children from home to school.
By signing MoUs, municipality governments committed to supporting the program both during the
period of implementation supported by the Language Commission, and beyond using their own
resources.
Speaking in the program, the Mayors of Temal and Phidim Municipalities expressed their gratitude
to the Language Commission and VSO Nepal for selecting Tamang and Limbu languages the model
building project. They affirmed the need of mother tongue instruction to enhance quality and preserve
language and culture. They showed their commitment to work further in implementing MTB- MLE
through tripartite collaboration with the Language Commission, VSO Nepal and local government.
The launch events in both locations confirmed that there is strong support locally for the activity.
3. METHODOLOGY
This study sought to establish a baseline in target schools and communities and to develop a
comprehensive situational analysis of target schools. Educational literature shows that the success
of an intervention is dependent on having a solid understanding of both the challenge to be
addressed, and the context within which it is occurring (Spink, Cassity, & Rorris, 2017). This baseline
study intends to fulfil these prerequisites.
Primary data collection focused on assessing three domains of quality education: classroom
practices; teacher and parent understanding and support; and student learning outcomes. Four tools
were used to assess these domains.
4.1 Sampling
Table 4 shows the final sample size, together with respondent rates for each group of respondents.
Annex 3 breaks down the sample by location. Temal exceeded the target sample for all respondent
groups.
Table 4 Sample size
Respondents
Target
sample size
Actual
sample size
(total Temal
and Phidim)2
Proportion
actual to
target
Notes
Parents
28
32
112%
Target was to survey at least half of the
parents of students in Class One.
Teachers
30
41
137%
Target was to survey all teachers who teach
in Class One, head teachers, principals.
Students
57
45
79%
Target was to survey and assess all
students in Class One.
Classes
18
22
122%
Target was to observe at least three classes
in each of the six selected schools.
For parents, teachers, and classes, a larger sample size was achieved than the original target.
However, for students, the sample size was smaller than expected. This may be because some
students were absent on the days that data was collected, or that the enrolment data used to
calculate target sample size was out of date.
Sampling was not random. Enumerators were free to select parents, teachers, students, and classes
based on the availability of respondents during data collection timeline.
4.2 Tools
Tools were developed and peer reviewed in September and October 2018. All tools were translated
to Nepali, and relevant questions of the Student Assessment Tool were translated to Tamang and
Limbu. Copies of the tools can be obtained by writing to the author.
2
See Annex 3 for a break down of the sample for each location.
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Parent/Guardian Perception Survey Tool
Parental support is necessary for a new mother tongue-based project to be fully implemented. If
parents do not support the program, efforts may be minimized or sacrificed and the program may
ultimately fail (Dekker & Dekker, 2016). In Nepal, many parents view language as a critical factor in
decision making around their children’s education, with evidence suggesting that a desire for their
children to learn English is leading many parents to leave the public education system in favour of
English-medium private schools (Ranabhat, Chiluwal, & Thompson, 2018). Therefore, it is important
to understand parental perceptions and preferences around language use to ensure that the activity
is able to adequately address any misconceptions and build support among parents.
The Parent/Guardian Survey included nine statements that were read to parents by the enumerators
in Nepali or their mother tongue. Parents and guardians were asked to state their level of agreement
with each statement, using a four category Likert scale.
Teacher Perception Survey Tool
Research shows that teachers’ attitudes and perceptions influence their practice (Fang, 1996).
Understanding teachers’ points of view and attitudes regarding the role of language in education
gives us an insight into teacher knowledge of the area, which can inform the amount and type of
effort the activity will need to invest in raising the awareness and capabilities of teachers.
Early grade teachers from all schools were surveyed to understand their perceptions and outlooks
on mother tongue education. As with the Parent/Guardian Survey, teachers were asked to state their
level of agreement with 12 statements, using a four category Likert scale.
In developing the final statements for the teacher survey, the author reviewed the statements and
methodology used in the Nepal Early Grade Reading Assessment, Education Management
Efficiency Study and Teacher Observation Study (RTI International, 2014a).
Student Survey and Assessment Tool
The first component of the student-level study was a Student Perception Survey. As with the teacher
and parent/guardian surveys, the student survey included a number of statements (six) that were
read aloud to students in their preferred language. Students expressed their agreement with the
statement using a Likert scale.
The second component of the student-level study was an assessment of reading abilities,
specifically: letter recognition, oral language development (measured through a listening
assessment) and reading abilities. Listening and reading abilities were assessed for both Nepali and
the mother tongue, while letter recognition was only assessed in Nepali
3
.
The link between learning outcomes and mother tongue-based education is well proven in the local
and international literature (see for example World Education, 2016; Tomas & Collier, 1997; Hynsjö
& Damon, 2015; Alison Pflespsen, 2011). Therefore, this study did not seek to provide rigorous,
generalisable evidence of improved learning outcomes; but rather to draw conclusions on the
effectiveness of this specific intervention.
The Assessment component of the Student Survey and Assessment Tool drew from the Nepal Early
Grade Reading Assessment Study (RTI International, 2014b). The author is grateful to RTI for
sharing the full tool set.
Classroom Observation Tool
The Classroom Observation tool used in this baseline is based on the Stallings ‘snapshot’ of
classroom observation (World Bank, 2015).
The Stallings snapshot model captures data at regular intervals (usually between 2-5 minutes) and
records student, teacher and classroom interactions as a ‘snap shot’. Because of this, Stallings is
considered a low-inference tool for measuring classroom interactions and time on task to produce
quantitative data for comparison. However, the full Stallings tool can be lengthy, with a large number
3
Though should be assessed in mother tongue in the mid- and end-line.
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of items for scoring, and therefore requires extensive enumerator training. Without in-depth
enumerator training, the risk of mis-coding can be large and reliability of results reduced (RTI
International, 2016).
The available time and resources for training enumerators for this baseline study was extremely
limited, and therefore a simplified version of the Stallings tool was utilised. In simplifying the tool, the
author drew from the observation tool utilised in the 2014 study for Save the Children Nepal
(Weinberg, 2014).
Rather than relying heavily on single letter codes as the standard Stallings tool does, the tool used
in this baseline study provides more descriptive statements on the possible activities being
undertaken, and the enumerator just needed to indicate those that are being completed at that
snapshot point.
Tool Validation
All four tools used in the baseline study are based on existing tools that have been well validated
internationally and in Nepal. Therefore, a lengthy validation process was not required, however, all
tools underwent a process of peer review. All four tools were peer-reviewed by Dr. Prem Phyak,
Assistant Professor and Head of the Department of English at Tribhuvan University, and the
Classroom Assessment tool was additionally peer -reviewed by Helen Horton, VSO Teacher Trainer.
4.3 Data collection and analysis
Data collection
Baseline data was collected in November and December 2018. Local resource persons were used
as enumerators. Resource persons generally come from a teaching background and were either
native speakers of or fluent in the target languages. Enumerators were trained by the author and
Language Commission advisers in the tools and data collection protocol during the launch events in
each location.
In Temal, the two resource persons travelled together to all three schools to collect data, while in
Phidim, the three resource persons elected to take responsibility for one school each and travelled
to the schools separately.
Data entry and cleaning
Enumerators were also responsible for data entry. After data collection had been completed, data
was entered into an Excel template by the enumerators using their own laptop computers. Soft copies
of the compiled data were provided to the author, and hard copies of the original forms were also
sent to the Language Commission office. Enumerators compiled and sent all data for each location
in one batch.
The author compiled the data from the two locations into a single database. Data was cleaned initially
in the Excel template, and then again in SPSS. Significant gaps were found in the Phidim data,
particularly for Classroom Observation data. Student assessment data for listening and reading was
found to vary greatly between schools and between enumerators who collected the data (for example
some schools having no students correctly answering any questions, and other schools with students
answering all questions correctly), so much so that the author decided to ignore this data for the
purposes of analysis and focus only on the letter recognition data.
Data Analysis
Data was analysed by the author using Microsoft Excel and SPSS in January 2019.
4.4 Limitations
The methodology described in this section was selected to provide an understanding of the opinions,
beliefs, abilities, and practices of key stakeholder groups that will be involved in the model building
activity. The prevailing conditions and resources were taken into consideration in selecting the study
methodology.
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An important consideration in designing the study was the ability to collect data quickly, so that the
results could inform the activity and not hold up its implementation. A second important consideration
was the limited funding pool available for the activity as a whole, and the desire that the majority of
funding went towards the activity itself, rather than base-, mid-, or end-line studies. With this in mind,
there are noteworthy limitations in the methodology and subsequent findings.
The time and funding limitations meant that it was not possible to hire experienced enumerators or
researchers, to pay for translators for the English-speaking author, or to pay for extended travel for
VSO or Language Commission staff to the field to collect data. Local government resource persons
based in the target municipalities were instead chosen as enumerators.
Local resource persons’ experience and capacity in conducting educational research was mixed, but
generally low. This meant that a primarily quantitative methodology and highly prescriptive tools were
used, over more qualitative or open tools. Further qualitative research may reveal more nuance to
the existing findings. For example, teachers state that they ‘mostly’ use the mother tongue, but
observations found this not to be the case. Semi-structured interviews and/or qualitative research
could help explain this gap.
Local resource persons are usually former teachers and are likely to have existing relationships with
the respondent groups. This is both a strength and weakness: these existing relationships may mean
respondents are more comfortable in sharing their honest opinions, or, depending on the quality of
the relationship and local power dynamics, it may have the opposite effect and cause respondents
to give the answers they think the resource persons want. If the latter, the generally very positive
findings of the perception surveys (detailed in section 4) may be overstated.
There are also some strengths in using local resource persons as enumerators, for example most
resource persons were able to speak both Nepali and the target mother tongue.
Enumerator training was limited to two hours at the conclusion of launch events. While the limited
training time did not appear to be a problem in Temal, it may have contributed to the lower quality
data in Phidim. The Student Assessment and Classroom Observation tools were more complicated
than the Perception Surveys, and enumerators would likely have benefitted from ‘practice sessions’
with the tools prior to data collection.
The limited time available to conduct the baseline study before the implementation of the activity
meant that there was no opportunity to field test tools. This challenge was partially overcome by
drawing heavily from existing, field-tested tools as described in this section. However, issues were
still found in the quality of the data from the Student Assessment and Classroom Observation tools
which may have been prevented with field testing in the target municipalities.
Finally, the sample size of this study is sufficient for drawing conclusions about the target schools
and communities but is not large enough to draw conclusions or make recommendations that are
generalisable more widely. The aim of this study was only to understand the current situation in target
areas to inform the model building activity. There are other local and international studies available
that have used more rigorous methodologies and sample sizes (see for example Hynsjö & Damon,
2015; RTI International, 2014a; Tomas & Collier, 1997; World Education, 2016).
4. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION
5.1 Parent Perception Survey
As part of this study, 32 parents were surveyed, including 20 parents in Temal and 12 parents in
Phidim. All but one parent surveyed spoke the target language (Tamang or Limbu) as their mother
tongue. 50 per cent of parents interviewed were female.
Overall, parents’ perceptions were overwhelmingly positive in both locations. Over 90 per cent of
parents agreed that children have a right to education in their mother tongue, and that using the
mother tongue helps students acquire information quickly. All parents agreed that they have an
important role to play in supporting their child’s education.
14
In Phidim, all parents stated that they preferred their child to learn first in their mother tongue and
then later in Nepali or English. This finding means that there is likely to be strong support for the MTB
MLE model building activity in this municipality. This statement was more divisive in Temal, where
parents were evenly split in their agreement. The activity may need to include a larger focus on
advocacy among parents in Temal.
The full results of the Parent Perception Survey are provided in Figure 5.
Figure 5 Parental Perception Survey results by Location
In general, both female and male parents were positive about the role of mother tongue languages
in education systems. Males were slightly more positive in most statements, while females were less
likely to prefer their child to learn in the mother tongue. Figure 6 provides a full break down by gender.
Interestingly, the only statement that females were more likely to agree with was ‘In Nepal, all children
have a right to education in their mother tongue’. There has been significant news coverage of the
right to mother tongue education in the constitution
4
, and, anecdotally, men have been found to be
more active news readers. This finding should be further explored through qualitative focus group
discussions or semi-structured interviews to better understand the information sources females are
accessing that lead to stronger support of this statement.
No notable trend was found between other parental characteristics (such as age, mother tongue,
education level) and support for mother tongue languages in education. Though no consistent trend
was noted in parental response by education level, some variation was present, as illustrated Annex
4.
4
For examples in English see “Education in mother languages stressed,” 2005; “Only few schools imparting
education in mother tongue,” 2018; Tumbahang, n.d.
15
Figure 6 Parental Perception Survey results by gender
5.2 Teacher Perception Survey
The Teacher Perception Survey included 41 teachers: 21 teachers in Temal and thirteen teachers
in Phidim. Most teachers surveyed (32) spoke the target language (Tamang or Limbu) as their mother
tongue. The remaining nine teachers spoke Nepali as their mother tongue. 17 teachers surveyed
were female and 24 were male.
As with parents, teachers in both locations were generally positive about the inclusion of mother
tongue languages in education. Almost all teachers agreed that students have a right to education
in their mother tongue, and that using the mother tongue helps students acquire information more
quickly. Most teachers agreed that “It would be easy to use mother tongue as the medium of
instruction”. These findings demonstrate that there is likely to be support from teachers in both
locations for the activity.
Only 61 per cent of teachers in Temal and 54 per cent of teachers in Phidim agreed with the
statement “using the mother tongue too much in the classroom makes it difficult for students to learn
other languages like Nepali and English”. Unlike the other statements which are phrased in a positive
light, this statement is the only statement in the set which is phrased negatively, so it is possible that
this may have caused some confusion with teachers. As part of future teacher training and advocacy,
it will be important to clarify the positive role early education in the mother tongue has on fluency and
literacy in other languages.
Interestingly, 79 per cent of teachers in Temal and 85 per cent of teachers in Phidim agreed that
they are already ‘mostly’ using the mother tongue to teach students. As we will see in Section 5.5,
this finding does not correlate with the language use observed during the classroom observations as
teachers were only observed to use the mother tongue on average about 25 per cent of the time.
Further qualitative observations will be necessary to better understand how teachers are currently
making use of the mother tongue, and to be able to provide tailored teaching training activities to
support them to use the mother tongue more effectively.
The final three statements all relate to teachers’ perception of their existing resources and skills to
implement a mother tongue-based program. Here we see lower levels of agreement with the
16
statements, particularly in Temal. The finding that zero per cent of teachers in Temal feel that they
have access to resources in the mother tongue was confirmed during a recent field visit by a team
from the Language Commission – the team was unable to locate a single book or other teaching
resource in the mother tongue. This shows that, although teachers generally agree that mother
tongue languages have a role in education, they are lacking the resources and skills to switch to
using mother tongues as the medium of instruction. The activity therefore should focus on increasing
teachers’ resources and abilities to implement a mother tongue-based program.
The full results of the Teacher Perception Survey for each location are provided in Figure 7.
Figure 7 Teacher Perception Survey results by location
Interestingly, although male parents were found to be more likely to agree with all statements, the
Teacher Perception Survey results were more mixed by gender. As per Figure 8, the Survey found
that female teachers were more likely to agree with most statements, but with several exceptions.
Male teachers were more likely to agree that “children should learn to read and write in their first
language before learning other languages” and “at the moment, I mostly use the mother tongue”.
Male teachers were also more likely to agree with the final two statements, which ask teachers to
reflect on their own skills and abilities to teach in the mother tongue. This may reflect the wider social
phenomenon of females tending to be more self-critical of their own skills and abilities (Shipman,
2014).
No notable difference was found between other teacher characteristics (such as age, mother tongue,
education level) and support for mother tongue languages in education.
17
Figure 8 Teacher Perception Survey results by gender
5.3 Student Perception Survey
The student-level component of the baseline study included a Student Perception Survey and a
Student Assessment section. 45 students, all in Class One, were surveyed and assessed, including
31 students in Temal and 14 in Phidim. 31 students were female and 14 were male. Almost all
students surveyed and assessed spoke the target languages (Tamang or Limbu) as their mother
tongue, with three students speaking Nepali as their mother tongue and two speaking both Nepali
and Limbu as their mother tongue.
For the Student Perception Survey component, students were surveyed on their feelings towards
school, their teacher, and learning. Overall students in both locations were positive about their school
experience. While the first five statements aren’t exclusively related to mother tongue usage in the
classroom, it’s encouraging to know that students are enjoying their educational experience.
The final statement is the only statement on the student survey directly related to mother tongue
usage. For this statement, 71 per cent and 76 per cent of students in Temal and Phidim respectively
agreed that their teacher encourages them to use the mother tongue. When controlling for students
mother tongue and considering only students who speak the target language as their mother tongue,
these figures change to 69 per cent in Temal and 79 per cent in Phidim.
This finding, as well as the finding from the teacher survey, is at odds with the classroom observation
finding that little teaching is currently happening in the mother tongue (see Figures 13 and 14).
Further qualitative observations and interviews are required to determine why self-reported usage of
the mother tongue differs from observed practice. For example, perhaps the presence of the
enumerators, who were known to the teachers, influenced the use of language.
The full results of the Student Perception Survey are provided in Figure 9. No notable difference was
found between student characteristics (such as gender, age, mother tongue) and perceptions
towards school, their teacher, or learning.
18
Figure 9 Student Perception Survey results by location
5.4 Student Assessment
The second component of the student-level study was an assessment of student reading abilities.
The same students surveyed in section 5.3 were assessed for their letter recognition, listening, and
reading abilities. Listening and reading abilities were assessed for both Nepali and the mother
tongue, while letter recognition was only assessed in Nepali. As discussed in the methodology
section (Section 4.3), issues were experienced with the student assessment tool and data quality,
the results from the listening and reading abilities assessments have been excluded from this report
5
.
Students were on average only able to correctly recognise 29 per cent of letters. Students in Phidim
scored higher than those in Temal. Students in Temal correctly recognising 27 per cent of words and
students in Phidim correctly recognising 36 per cent of letters. Figure 10 illustrates students’ letter
recognition results by location.
Female students were found to be able to recognise more letters correctly (32 per cent). This finding
is consistent with other student reading assessments in Nepal, such as RTI’s Early Grade Reading
Assessment (RTI International, 2014b). Figure 11 shows the letter recognition scores disaggregated
by gender.
5
The author, VSO Nepal, or the Language Commission may further analyse this data at a later date once further data
cleaning and verification has been conducted.
19
Figure 10 Student Letter Recognition results by
location
Figure 11 Student Letter Recognition results by
gender
5.5 Classroom practice
For the classroom practice component of the study, 22 classes were observed including 12 in Temal
and 10 in Phidim. All classes observed were at Class One level, and all teachers of classes observed
spoke the target language as their mother tongue. Seventeen of the classes observed were taught
by female teachers.
As with student assessment data, there were large gaps in data for the classroom observation data,
particularly in Phidim. Nevertheless, the data available was sufficient to draw some important findings
about classroom practices in target schools.
Annex 5 and 6 provide a breakdown of the time spent by teachers and students on various classroom
activities by location. Note that enumerators were free to select more than one teacher or student
activity for each snapshot. Further qualitative observations are necessary to validate the findings
presented in these annexes.
Positively, all students were found to be engaged 63 per cent of the time. An important finding is that
use of the mother tongue, both orally and visually, and by teachers and students, positively predicts
greater student engagement, as per Figure 12. Though this finding is based on a limited sample pool
(as the amount of time spent using the mother tongue either visually or orally was limited, as per
figures 13 and 14), it is consistent across all modalities of language use, and is supported by the
literature (For example Baker, 2001; Benson, 2006).
Figure 12 Student engagement by use of mother tongue
Overall, classes in Phidim appear to be making more use of the mother tongue in teaching activities
and materials. However, even within Phidim, use of the mother tongue is less than that of Nepali.
Nepali was found to be the most frequently used language in both locations.
Figure 13 shows the availability of materials by language in each location. No materials were
available in the mother tongue in Temal, and only around 20 per cent of the materials in Phidim were
in the mother tongue. These findings support teachers’ perception (outlined in section 5.2) that there
are not enough resources to support mother tongue-based teaching at present. In Temal, materials
were almost evenly split between Nepali and English, while in Phidim, the largest share of materials
were available in Nepali, and English and mother tongue materials were evenly available.
21
Figure 13 Materials available by location
Similarly, looking at the percentage of time spent using each language, Phidim classes appear to be
making greater use of the mother tongue as compared to Temal. Figures 14 and 15 show the
percentage of time teachers and student spent using each language by location.
Figure 14 Language use in Temal
22
Figure 15 Language use in Phidim
23
The primary materials being used to support teaching are the blackboard and textbook, as per Figure
16. Notebooks, primers, pictures, and cards are also being used. Big and small books are being
used very infrequently, a concerning finding given the results are specific to the first grade where
big or small story books are usually considered invaluable for developing literacy skills
6
. The activity
should therefore ensure that teachers are equipped with the skills to create and utilise story books
in their teaching.
Figure 16 Use of materials in both locations
Given that the primary material being used by teachers is the textbook (Figure 16), and that at
present the majority of the Curriculum Development Centre-approved textbooks are only available
in Nepali, it is not surprising that the use of the mother tongue is limited (Figures 13 and 14). The
activity will need to provide training to teachers on developing supplementary teaching materials
(such as big and small books, primers, worksheets, etc) and on more student-centred teaching
pedagogies in order increase the time spent using the mother tongue (Figure 13 and 14), increase
the availability of materials in mother tongue (Figure 11) and the use of a wider variety of materials
(Figure 15).
5. RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the findings outlined in Section 4, the following recommendations are put forward to inform
the refinement of the activity design and implementation.
6
The Classroom Observation tool only notes weather or not these resources were used by the teacher, and not their
availability to the teacher. Further qualitative observations can further explore this finding to better understand why
teachers are not using these types of learning resources.
24
Recommendations for advocacy
1. Parents are generally positive about the use of mother tongue languages in education in both
locations. Advocacy efforts may build on this positive sentiment to build moment and
commitment from parents to support the activity. For example, parents can be mobilised as
teaching resources to share cultural folk tales and practices in the classroom, and to help their
children to build oral language skills in the home that can be translated into literacy skills.
2. Although most parents in Temal understand that children have a right to education in the mother
tongue and that the mother tongue better supports learning, only about half of the parents
surveyed preferred their children to learn in the mother tongue first. Advocacy efforts in Temal
can work to convince the remaining parents to support the mother tongue-based program, by
building on the benefits that teachers already understand and agree with.
3. Teachers are similarly positive about the use of mother tongues in education and understand
the link to learning, however the link to fluency and literacy in second and third languages was
less clear. Advocacy and training efforts with teachers should be sure to clarify the positive
effect mother tongue languages have on the future learning of dominant languages such as
Nepali and English.
4. The findings from this study show that there is a reasonable degree of support for mother
tongue-based education among local stakeholders (teachers and parents). These findings
should be reassuring for the Government of Nepal as the continue implementation of its
Constitutional commitments. VSO and the Language Commission should consider how other
findings (for example on the limited availability of mother tongue materials and textbooks) can
form part of their advocacy efforts to the Ministry of Education, Phidim and Temal Municipal
Governments, and other relevant departments (such as the Curriculum Development Centre for
the finding on materials).
Recommendations for teaching training
5. This study found that teachers are already using Tamang and Limbu mother tongues to varying
degrees. Pending further qualitative studies (see recommendation 9), teacher training activities
should help teachers to be able to use mother tongue more effectively. For example, if they are
currently using the mother tongue to directly translate the text book, teaching strategies such
as Total Physical Response
7
could be a more effective way to bridge from the mother tongue to
Nepali without building student dependency on direct translation.
6. Though teachers were generally positive about the potential role of the mother tongue in
education, they felt that they did not presently have the resources or skills to begin teaching fully
in the mother tongue. Teacher training activities do not need to spend large amounts of time
‘convincing’ teachers of the value of mother tongue but can instead focus on increasing
teachers’ resources and abilities to implement a mother tongue-based program.
7. Limited materials in the mother tongue were found in Phidim, and no materials were found in
Temal. Similarly, the primary teaching material found to be used was textbooks in Nepali.
Through the teacher perception survey, we know that few teachers feel capable of creating their
own materials in the mother tongue. These three findings all build a strong case for focusing
training for teachers on how to develop their own supplementary materials in the mother tongue.
By developing teachers’ capacity to create their own materials, rather than centrally developing
materials and cascading to teachers, the activity is likely to be more sustainable long term.
7
See British Council (n.d.)
25
8. In line with recommendations 5, 6, and 7, teacher training activities should be skills-based, and
provide teachers with the capacity to independently support student bridging and to create their
own materials. These skills are best developed in the teachers’ local environment, with
opportunities to practice in the classroom, and be held over an extended, multi-day period.
Ongoing support and mentoring, that continues into Phase 2 and 3, from Language Commission
and local resource persons will be vital for new skills to become embedded in teachers everyday
practice.
Recommendations for further study
9. This study utilised a primarily quantitative methodology. Further qualitative studies, such as
focus group discussions, semi-structured interviews, and qualitative observations would
complement the existing data. For example, focus groups or semi-structured interviews would
provide an insight into parent and teachers’ motivation for agreement (for example, had they
just seen a news article on the right to mother tongue?). Qualitative observations would help
explain the gap between observed language use and teachers’ assertation that they ‘mostly’
use the mother tongue already.
Other recommendations
10. This study has found that even limited use of the mother tongue, either orally or visually, and by
students or teachers, all predict more student engagement. Though the generalisability of this
finding is limited due to sample size, it is reinforced by other studies in Nepal (e.g. Ranabhat et
al., 2018; World Education, 2016) and elsewhere (e.g. Benson, 2006). This is an important
finding for the Government of Nepal and for other local municipalities as it shows that ‘something
is better than nothing’ when it comes to mother tongue education.
6. CONCLUSION
This study has provided both a benchmark that can be measured again at mid- and end-line to
assess the impact of the model building activity as well as an insight into the current situation that
can be used to inform the design of the activity. It has provided recommendations for advocacy,
teacher training, and further study.
Encouragingly, both parents and teachers are generally supportive of mother tongue education in
both locations. Teachers’ were concerned with the availability of resources and their own abilities to
implement a mother tongue-based program, and gaps were found between their reported level of
mother tongue use, and observations in the classroom. Teacher training activities should focus on
building teachers’ capacity to use the mother tongue for child-centred teaching approaches and to
be able to develop their own supplementary materials in the mother tongue.
26
ANNEX 1: BIBLIOGRAPHY
Baker, C. (2001). Foundations of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism (3rd ed.). Clevedon:
Multilingual Matters.
Benson, C. (2006). Language, education and (dis)empowerment – The important role of local
languages in educational development. In L. Dahlström & J. Mannberg (Eds.), Critical
Educational Visions and Practices in neo-liberal times. Umeå: Global South Network
Publisher.
British Council (n.d.) Total physical response - TPR. Retrieved January 29, 2019, from
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/total-physical-response-tpr
Dekker, D., & Dekker, G. (2016). Good Answers to Tough Questions in Mother Tongue-Based
Multilingual Education. (C. Young & B. Trudell, Eds.).
Education in mother languages stressed. (2005, June 3). Retrieved January 19, 2019, from
https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/education-in-mother-languages-stressed/
Fang, Z. (1996). A review of research on teacher beliefs and practices. Educational Research,
38(1), 47–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/0013188960380104
Government of Nepal. (2012). National Population and Housing Census 2011 (National Report).
Kathmandu: Central Bureau of Statistics.
Government of Nepal. Nepal’s Constitution of 2015 (2015).
Government of Nepal. (2016). School Sector Development Plan, Nepal, 2016–2023. Kathmandu:
Ministry of Education, Government of Nepal.
Government of Nepal. (2017). Language Mapping Survey (Internal Data). Kathmandu: Language
Commission.
Government of Nepal. (2018). Flash Report 1 2017/2018. Kathmandu: Department of Education.
Hynsjö, D., & Damon, A. (2015). Bilingual education in Peru: Evidence on how Quechua-medium
education affects indigenous children’s academic achievement. Economics of Education
Review.
Only few schools imparting education in mother tongue. (2018, January 24). Retrieved January 19,
2019, from https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/schools-imparting-education-mother-
tongue/
Pflespsen, A. (2011). Improving Learning Outcomes through Mother Tongue-Based Education.
North Carolina: RTI International. Retrieved from
https://www.globalreadingnetwork.net/sites/default/files/eddata/Mother_tongue-
based_instruction_and_learning_outcomes_FINAL_updated_Jan_2013.pdf
Ranabhat, M. B., Chiluwal, S. B., & Thompson, R. (2018). The Spread of English as a Medium of
Instruction in Nepal’s Community Schools. In D. Hayes (Ed.), English Language Teaching
in Nepal: Research, Reflection and Practice. Kathmandu. Retrieved from
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/web%20_%20Text_English%20Lan
guage%20Teaching%20in%20Nepal%20_%2015.6%20cm%20x%2023.3%20cm%20-
%2012%20JAN%202018.pdf
RTI International. (2014a). Nepal Early Grade Reading Assessment, Education Management
Efficiency Study and Teacher Observation Study (No. EdData II Technical and Managerial
Assistance, Task Number 15 Contract Number: AID-OAA-BC-11-00001). Education Data
27
for Decision Making (EdData II): Data for Education Programming in Asia and Middle East
(DEP/AME).
RTI International. (2014b). Nepal Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) Study (No. EdData II
Technical and Managerial Assistance, Task Number 15 Contract Number: AID-OAA-BC-
11-00001). Education Data for Decision Making (EdData II): Data for Education
Programming in Asia and Middle East (DEP/AME).
RTI International. (2016). Measures of quality through classroom observation for the Sustainable
Development Goals: Lessons from low-and-middle-income countries (Background paper
prepared for the 2016 Global Education Monitoring Report No.
ED/GEMR/MRT/2016/P1/30).
Spink, J., Cassity, E., & Rorris, A. (2017). What Works Best in Education for Development: A
Super Synthesis of the Evidence. Canberra: Education Analytics Service (EAS),
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Shipman, K. K. and C. (2014, May). The Confidence Gap. The Atlantic. Retrieved from
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/05/the-confidence-gap/359815/
Tomas, W., & Collier, V. (1997). School effectiveness for language minority students. Washington
DC: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education.
Tumbahang, G. B. (n.d.). The Rising Nepal: Situation Of Mother Tongues In Nepal. Retrieved
January 19, 2019, from http://therisingnepal.org.np/news/1826
Weinberg, M. (2014). Operational Research on Literacy Boost and Multilingual Education
Kapilvastu District, Nepal. Save the Children.
World Bank. (2015). User Guide: Conducting Classroom Observations (No. 97904).
World Education. (2016). Medium of Instruction: Improving Early Grade Learning outcomes
through use of Mother Tongue (Project Technical Brief No. 3). Kathmandu: World
Education. Retrieved from https://3vvxza37b4sa2ci1ug2o2qwg-wpengine.netdna-
ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/SSSB-Medium-of-Instruction-Brief.pdf
28
ANNEX 2: CONCEPT NOTE
VSO Support to Language Commission of Nepal
Background
Nepal is a diverse and multilingual nation, with more than 123 languages recorded in the most recent census
8
.
The Government of Nepal is committed to maintaining the country’s rich linguistic landscape and reflecting it
within its education system. A commitment to strengthening mother tongue based multilingual education (MTB
MLE) features prominently in the Constitution of Nepal and in the School Sector Development Plan (SSDP).
The Constitution of Nepal called for the establishment of a Language Commission to advise on a number of
constitutional provisions, namely: determining the criteria for official language(s); conserving and promoting
the languages of Nepal; advising on the status of present use of mother tongue languages in schools and
advising on their further uptake in education; and monitoring and researching languages. The Language
Commission has already initiated a language survey of 10 target languages to better understand language
use and fluency at the school level.
Volunteer Service Overseas (VSO) Nepal has operated in Nepal since the 1960s. Education is one of two
signature programs of the organisation. VSO Nepal and the Language Commission entered into a partnership,
articulated in a Memorandum of Understanding, in 2017. VSO Nepal has already supported the Language
Commission through the provision of a Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Education Specialist Volunteer in
July 2018. This concept note outlines the planned second component of VSO Nepal support to the Language
Commission.
Proposed activity
It is proposed that partnership between VSO Nepal and the Language Commission be dedicated towards
Phase 1 of a MTB MLE Model Building activity between August 2018 and March 2019. Phase 1 will include
all of the necessary preparatory activities required to launch the delivery of MTB MLE in the classroom by the
new school year. VSO Nepal will provide both financial and human resources in support of this phase of the
activity.
The second phase of this activity will consist of piloting the MTB MLE model developed in Phase 1 within
partner schools. During this phase, less financial resources will be required as the Language Commission
intends to utilise local resource persons for monitoring and mentoring activities. VSO Nepal will continue to
support the activity during Phase 2 and Phase 3 through the provision of a volunteer.
Purpose
The purpose of this activity is:
1. To build an effective, practical, and resources model of MTB MLE in up to nine schools;
9
2. To build support for and understanding of MTB MLE in up to three (3) municipalities; and
3. To document the process undertaken to achieve the above outcomes, in order to facilitate
replication of this process in other locations
Principles
This activity will be governed by the following principles:
• Teacher and child centred: teachers are at the core of the education system and are
responsible for making the day to day decisions that most affect the teaching and learning
process. We will ensure that teachers are consulted and represented at each step of
implementation. Students are the ultimate beneficiaries of MTB MLE and therefore their
needs will also be at the forefront of all program decisions.
8
CBS (2012:4). National Population and Housing Census 2011 (National Report). Kathmandu: Central Bureau of Statistics.
9
See page 30 of the SSDP for more details on these three identified school types.
29
• Indigenised knowledge: A strength of MTB MLE is its ability to bridge the gap between what
the student comes to school knowing (their culture, traditions, language, heritage) and what
they learn in school (how to read, write, count). We will ensure this link is strong by ensuring
all learning materials and teachers’ guides responsibly represent indigenous knowledge and
practice.
• Close collaboration and sharing: There is a wide community of organisations and individuals
in Nepal that maintain an interest in MTB MLE, including the Language Commission and
VSO Nepal. The experiences and resources of other organisations should be leveraged to
strengthen this activity, and therefore close collaboration with the MTB MLE community will
be a feature of this activity.
Justification
Local and international experience shows that children learn best when education is delivered in a language
they can understand. Through MTB MLE, Nepal’s education system seeks to improve learning outcomes for
its students, and particularly for those who do not speak Nepali as a mother tongue. Both the National
Assessment of Student Attainment (NASA) and the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) studies
highlighted language as an important factor in poor learning achievement.
10
,
11
MTB MLE also supports the transfer, preservation, and maintenance of Nepal’s indigenous languages, and
with them, the rich cultures and histories that are enshrined within in them. Unfortunately, there is only one
remaining speaker of Dura language (who is a non-native speaker), two speakers of Kusunda language, and
only three speakers remaining who have kept Tilung language alive. Almost all indigenous languages of Nepal
are declining in terms of native speakers.
12
Despite the widely held belief that greater exposure to dominant national or international languages during the
early years of schooling increases students’ eventual fluency, MTB MLE has been shown to increase fluency
and literacy in both the mother tongue and secondary languages.
13
This finding is important in view of the
strong economic value placed on English proficiency in the Nepali context.
MTB MLE also supports the achievement of both Government of Nepal and VSO Nepal priorities. The
Government of Nepal has made a constitutional commitment to providing education in students’ mother
tongue,
14
a commitment which is further emphasised in the Ministry of Education’s School Sector Development
Plan (SSDP – 2017-2023).
VSO Nepal’s goal for its education program is to see ‘the most disadvantaged children and young people in
Nepal have equitable and inclusive access to quality learning and skills development to reduce poverty’.
15
The
pedagogical and affective benefits of MTB MLE, particularly for disadvantaged groups, is well proven in the
literature
16
, therefore by supporting this activity, VSO will be contributing towards this goal. Further, the lessons
from this activity will be applicable to other VSO Nepal activities, particularly the Sisters for Sisters Program,
and potentially for other country offices.
Target areas
Based on prior consultations between the Language Commission and municipality governments, the following
target areas have been selected:
Province
District
Local levels
Language
10
RTI (2014). Nepal Early Grade Reading Assessment, Education Management Efficiency Study and Teacher Observation Study.
Kathmandu: USAID.
11
Metsämuuronen J and Kafle BR (2013) Where Are We Now? Results of Student Achievement in Mathematics, Nepali and Social
Studies of Grade 8 in the Year 2011. National Assessment of Student Achievement (NASA) Educational Review Office (ERO) Ministry
of Education. Kathmandu: Nepal
12
See CERID http://cerid.org/
13
Thomas, W., & Collier, V. (1997). School effectiveness for language minority students. Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for
Bilingual Education.
14
Specifically, clauses 31, point 5, and clauses 32 point 1 and point 3.
15
VSO Nepal (2017). Education Signature Programme: Quality inclusive education for all in Nepal 2016-2020. Kathmandu: VSO
16
For an example of one influential study showing the link between language of instruction and learning outcomes, see J D Ramirez et
al (1991). Final Report: Longitudinal Study of Structured English Immersion Strategy, Early-Exit and Late-Exit Transitional Bilingual
Programs for Language-Minority Children. San Mateo: Aguirre International
30
3
Kabhrepalanchok
Temal Rural Municipality
Tamang17
1
Panchthar
Phidim Municipality
Limbu18
Within these municipalities, it is expected that up to three schools per municipality will be jointly selected with
the municipal government.
Though the SSDP
19
identifies three potential linguistic scenarios that may be present in Nepali schools,
namely:
• Type 1: schools that are made up mainly of learners who are homogeneously Nepali
speaking on entry to ECED/PPE or grade 1 (estimated as accounting for 60-70% of schools).
• Type 2: schools that are made up of learners that homogeneously speak a language other
than Nepali as their mother tongue on entry to ECED/PPE or grade 1 (estimated as 10-15%
of schools).
• Type 3: schools that are made up of learners from diverse language backgrounds with no
common mother tongue on entry to ECED/PPE or grade 1 (estimated as 15-20% of schools).
The Language Commission’s mandate to make recommendations around the use of mother tongues in
education, and therefore this activity will target Type 2 schools. We may consider doing some small-scale
research or other activities to provide advice to schools that fall under Type 3.
Where possible, schools selected should be 'typical' schools to maximise the applicability of the lessons
learned from the activity. ‘Typical’ schools will be determined based on available data on financial resources,
remoteness, infrastructure and facilities, complemented with qualitative feedback from municipal government
partners where data is not available.
Plan
The following section outlines the anticipated stages that this activity is expected to follow throughout its
implementation. A further breakdown of the planned phases is provided in the Figure 1. Essentially, the activity
will include three phases:
• Phase 1 (August 2018 – March 2019): Phase 1 will include all the necessary preparatory
steps prior to implementation in the classroom, including school selection, material
development, and teacher capacity development.
• Phase 2 (April 2019 onwards): Phase 2, which will correspond with the 2019/2020 school
year, will involve implementation of MTB MLE in early grades classrooms. Classroom
implementation will be complemented by ongoing mentoring and monitoring, as well as mid-
term and final reviews.
• Phase 3: It is anticipated that a third phase of this activity will be the eventual scale-up of the
activity by both partner municipalities and other interested municipalities. During Phase 3, all
financial resources should come from local municipality education budgets, with the
Language Commission providing ongoing technical support and sharing of developed
learning materials.
Throughout all phases of this activity, regular Community of Practice events are anticipated. Plans for the
functioning of this Community of Practice are detailed in a separate concept note. This forum will provide an
advisory and peer review function to the implementation of this pilot but will also be a platform for interested
individuals and organisations to discuss wider findings related to MTB MLE in Nepal.
17
See: https://www.ethnologue.com/language/taj; http://www.language-archives.org/language/taj
18
See: https://www.ethnologue.com/language/lif; http://www.language-archives.org/language/lif
19
See page 30 of the SSDP for more details on these three identified school types.
Phase 1:
Phase 2:
16/09/2018 23/09/2018 30/09/2018 7/10/2018 14/10/2018 21/10/2018 28/10/2018 4/11/2018 11/11/2018 18/11/2018 25/11/2018 2/12/2018 9/12/2018 16/12/2018 23/12/2018 30/12/2018 6/01/2019 13/01/2019 20/01/2019 27/01/2019 3/02/2019 10/02/2019 17/02/2019 24/02/2019 3/03/2019 10/03/2019 17/03/2019 24/03/2019 31/03/2019
1Background research and preparation
Finalise and approve concept note and budget
2Baseline report
Desk review of existing data
Tool development
Data collection
Data analysis
Report finalisation
3
Visit 1: MOU Signing, school selection, baseline data collection, problem analysis with teachers
Workshop preparation
Province 3 - Makwanpur
Province 1 - Panchthar
4
Visit 2: School policy setting with SCM, community consultion, material development workshops
Workshop preparation
Advocacy materials development + printing
Province 3 - Makwanpur
Province 1 - Panchthar
5Material testing
Province 3 - Makwanpur
Province 1 - Panchthar
Review and QA of materials and teachers guides
Printing of materials
6Visit 3: Teacher development workshops
Workshop preparation
Province 3 - Makwanpur
Province 1 - Panchthar
7 Phase 1 progress report
Report preparation
Report submission
-Deadline for budget utilisation and reporting to VSO end March 2019.
-Tools may include classroom observation, attitudinal surveys, FGDs, and student assessments.
-MOUs will should include budget commitment beyond the VSO funded programming for increased sustainability.
-Problem analysis will be the basis for first engagement with teachers - rather than a 'solutions focused' approach.
-Data collection for baseline may be collected by local resource person and/or VSO volunteers.
-School selection to consider 'typicalness' of schools within local context
-Advocacy with parents to included simple printed materials explaing role of mother tongue in education, and wi th
focus on increasing parents involvement in children's education.
-Material development workshop will be led by teachers, schools, and communities, with input from specialists, CDC
and other stakeholders, to develop localised learning materials to supplement the CDC curriculum.
-Second workship with teachers to develop their capacity to use the newl y developed materials and to appropriately
support students to learn in their mother tongue.
-We will consider also training teachers in the use of Bloom software.
-Pending time, interest, budget availability, we may include in this visit mentoring training for local resource persons
and school superviser.
Christmas
Christmas
Laxmi
Puja
Dasain
Dasain
SN
Activities
Phase 1 (August 2018 – March 2019)
Notes
1/04/2019 1/05/2019 1/06/2019 1/07/2019 1/08/2019 1/09/2019 1/10/2019 1/11/2019 1/12/2019 1/01/2020 1/02/2020 1/03/2020 1/04/2020
Implementation in classrooms
Visit 4: Mentoring training -If not covered in Phase 1
Province 3 - Makwanpur
Province 1 - Panchthar
Ongoing monitoring and mentoring
Mid term review
Province 3 - Makwanpur
Province 1 - Panchthar
Preparation of Mid-term Report
Final review
Province 3 - Makwanpur
Province 1 - Panchthar
Final report
Preparation of final report
Documentation of good practice
Tool kit development
Closure event
Phase 2 (April 2019 – March 2019)
SN
Activities
Notes
32
Outputs
The expected outputs from the Phase 1 include:
• A baseline report outlining the current state of teaching, learning, and perceptions in target
schools;
• Inclusive language policies in each target school endorsed by the School Management
Committee (SMC); and
• A collection of learning materials, readers, and teachers guides that are tailored to local
context and a ready for teachers’ usage during the activity.
• Case studies to describe the process used to develop model and materials.
Expected outputs from the Phase 2 include:
• A tested model of MTB MLE
• Case studies on best practice and innovative practice found through the activity
• Evidence of the effect of mother tongue education on learning outcomes, teaching practice,
and teacher and community attitudes that can be utilized for advocacy efforts in new
municipalities and schools.
Budget
A tentative budget for this activity has been prepared and is subject to further negotiation between VSO Nepal
and the Language Commission. In addition, VSO Nepal has also provided a volunteer MTB MLE Specialist on
a full-time basis. Additional budget may be sourced from local municipal governments.
Conclusion
The Government of Nepal’s vision for its people is one of prosperity and development across all sectors.
Strengthening and building upon the country’s existing diversity to achieve this vision is both an opportunity
and a challenge. Language and multilingual educational represents an underutilised opportunity to achieve
this vision.
With the establishment of the 2015 Constitution of Nepal, all functions related to language use are delivered
to Language Commission. Among them is the responsibility for advising on MTB MLE. Based on the findings
from recent studies on the use of languages in education across ten different languages in ten different local
level locations, the present proposal represents an opportunity to develop a practicable, replicable model of
MTB MLE which in turn will improve learning outcomes, break long-standing misconceptions about language
in schools, and insure all Nepali children, no matter their language background, receive a quality education.
33
ANNEX 3: FULL SAMPLE SIZE BY LOCATION
Total
Temal
Phidim
Respondents
Target
sample
size
Actual
sample
size
Proportion
actual to
target
Target
sample
size
Actual
sample
size
Proportion
actual to
target
Target
sample
size
Actual
sample
size
Proportion
actual to
target
Notes
Parents
28.5
32
112%
15
20
133%
13.5
12
89%
Target was to survey half of the
parents of students in Class One.
Teachers
30
41
137%
15
28
187%
15
13
87%
Target was to survey all teachers
who teach in Class One, head
teachers, principals.
Students
57
45
79%
30
31
103%
27
14
52%
Target was to survey and assess
all students in Class One.
Classes
18
22
122%
9
12
133%
9
10
111%
Target was to observe at least
three classes in each school.
34
ANNEX 4: PARENTAL PERCEPTIONS BY EDUCATION LEVEL
35
ANNEX 5: TEACHER ACTIVITY BY LOCATION
36
ANNEX 6: STUDENT ACTIVITY BY LOCATION
37
(Government of Nepal, 2018)
