KATHMANDU: Chinese language is gaining ground in private schools operating in and around the Kathmandu Valley.
It is being taught as supplementary language in 60 plus private schools in the federal capital. However, the government has yet to develop official curriculum and textbooks to teach Chinese language. The language has been taught in 63 private schools, including Learning Reals International (LRI), Euro School, Akchhyara School, Bagmati School, Joseph School, Triyog School and Brihaspati Vidhya Sadan in Kathmandu and GEMS School and others in Lalitpur.
Even some community schools with sound financial backups are also making ground work to launch teaching and learning of Chinese language. Dhruba Regmi, under-secretary at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, informed that the Ministry and Chinese Embassy in Nepal are signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on teaching Chinese technical knowledge and vocational skills of Chinese language. Though some private schools have long been teaching the Chinese language, the Education Ministry does not have its specific records. Chinese language is one of the several languages spoken in the United Nations. In order to maintain proper records and documentation of language teaching, the Ministry has mobilized volunteers and arranged visa section.
Schools once prepared necessary infrastructures can send letter to the visa section demanding volunteer language teacher. According to the Ministry, visa for total 88 Chinese teachers was recommended for the fiscal year 2074/75 BS. The Curriculum Development Center said that it has granted permission to teach Nepali, English, French, Russian, German, Spanish, Chinese, Hindi, Japanese, Bangali, Tibetan, Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Arabian, Persian, Maithili, Newari, Abadhi and Bhojpuri languages in grade 9 and 10.
Shivaraj Pant, founder of LRI, said learning Chinese language has high importance to study history, culture, economic progress of China. It will also strengthen friendly relations between the citizens of both Nepal and China, he added. Annually the school is offering Chinese language classes to 1,800 students. Chinese Embassy based in Nepal has arranged volunteers to expand Chinese language teaching in Nepal.
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