School in bid to promote Dura language in Lamjung

Lamjung, May 2

Devi Sadan Primary School at Turlungkot of Sundarbazaar Municipality has adopted Dura language as the medium of instruction from the new academic year in Lamjung.

The school started teaching the language to students from grade one to grade five. “This location is popularly known as Duradanda, which is the origin of Dura community. Hence, we have started teaching students using materials in Dura language itself,” said head teacher Buddha Ram Darji.

A well-trained teacher, Juna Dura teaches Dura language to students.

According to Yam Bahadur Dura, a leader of the community, Soma Sadan Primary School at Thuloswara had started conducting classes in Dura language from 2015, but failed to give it continuity. “However, this time we are hopeful that the class will continue as people from Dura community have expressed their concerns,” he said.

Dura Sewa Samaj Founder Chairperson Bhakta Bahadur Dura took special initiative to conduct classes in the Dura language. His wife Ganga Maya Dura, who is also a teacher at Devi Sadan Primary School,  distributed copies, pens and other educational materials in Dura language to 35 students of the school.

“People of Dura community are in majority in this area, but the language itself is gradually disappearing due to lack of practice and proper protection. If they start teaching children from now on, the language won’t vanish. We have launched a protection campaign by teaching the language in school,” said Bhakta Bahadur. A consensus has been forged among stakeholders on conducting classes.

Representatives of Dura Sewa Samaj, people’s representatives and representatives of school management committees have signed the agreement.

A teacher who teaches Dura language is said to be provided Rs 2,000 while a supervisor and a facilitator will be provided with Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 per month respectively.

Head teacher Darji said he was provided with a cheque worth Rs 42,000 for this year.

The supervisor will prepare and submit a progress report every six months.

Bhakta Bahadur, who resides in the UK, has established a fund worth Rs 50,000 in the name of Buddhi-Laxmi-Dhanmilan for the past two years. The fund is aimed at providing education to  children from poor families.

Sindure, Chandreshwor, Neta, Dhuseni, Kunchha, Bhorle among other areas of Lamjung house the Dura community. Besides Lamjung, the population of the community has also spread to Kaski, Tanahun, Chitwan, Nawalparasi, Kathmandu, Lalitpur and other districts of late.