Kathmandu, January 10:

Some local communities are in favour of teaching Nepali language and enrolling their children in the mainstream educational system as compared to teaching the young generation in their mother tongues, according to a research.

Professor Dr Tirtha Raj Parajuli, curriculum expert at Tribhuvan University, said that learning in one’s mother tongue could help one grasp the material more easily. But many communities insist that they want to join the mainstream national educational system.

“Some communities have demanded a national curriculum so that they can get more opportunities and communicate effectively with the people from other communities,” Parajuli said.

Research Centre for Educational Innovation and Development (CERID) has recently submitted a report on “Meeting Learning Needs of Children of Indigenous Peoples and Linguistic Minorities” to Ministry of Education and Sports. The study was conducted in three districts—Rasuwa, Chitwan and Morang. The study concentrated on one of the indigenous minority groups — Bote community in Chitwan, Tamang community in Rasuwa and Santhal community in Morang.

The people of Santhal community send their children to schools to facilitate the younger generation in learning a new language, especially Nepali, which will in turn help them in the future, the study concluded.

According to the same study, indigenous communities preferred the teaching of Nepali language in to expose their children to the other communities.