Mother tongues

Mother tongues will soon replace Nepali as the primary medium of instruction in elementary schools across the country, says the Department of Education. The point of the reform is to lower dropout rates among students from non-Nepali speaking communities. These students will be taught Nepali as a second language instead. Director General of the Department of Education says, “Nepal is a multilingual country with more than 92 living language, but Nepali language has been the only medium of instruction and has victimized students whose native language is not Nepali.” (The Kathmandu Post)

CA brawl

CA members almost came to blows after a vote on the governance system failed to decide a winner. The Maoist proposal secured the most votes but didn’t win a majority.CA regulations are silent on what happens when no proposal wins a majority. Things got heated when NC member Prakash Saran Mahat interrupted the committee chairman as he was speaking, fearing that he would declare the Maoist proposal the winner, but calmed down when the CA members agreed to postpone the meeting. The official decision will be taken before House Speaker Subas Nembang at a later date.  (Republica)

Combatants discharged

The Maoist party has unilaterally decided to discharge the 4,000-odd disqualified Maoist fighters from cantonments across the country. The decision awaits approval from the party’s steering approval. PLA spokesperson, Chandra Prasad Khanal, said the PLA will not be responsible for the discharged combatants, and alleged that a reported Rs 800 million allocated to them by the Ministry of Peace and Reconstruction is being misused. UNMIN has asked for the combatants to be monitored for three months following their discharge. (The Himalayan Times)

Students stranded

After the UK government shut down Cecos London College, 100 Nepali students are left without a school to go to. The college was charged with evading taxes, lacking appropriate facilities, over-enrolling students, and hiring illegal residents. "I have no idea what am I supposed to do now," said Anuska (name changed), an OTHM Diploma student. She paid about £3,000 for admission and college registration fee in the college. A group of 20 students approached Nepali embassy in the UK to seek help but in vain. They were asked to seek the help of a solicitor instead. (Kantipur)