Educational Policy in Nepal

New Education System-Plan (NESP 2028) in Nepal

          New education system plan (NESP 2028) was a new plan that made our educational system more systematic and modern. It was really a bold step, and forwarded systematic study in the field of education. Before the implementation of NESP (2028), there were not systematic rules and regulations and English courses had literary texts. The grammar translation method was used in teaching. NESP brought overall change because it made language teaching more purposeful and the English courses were shifted from literature based to language oriented. The objectives of teaching English under the NESP (2028) were to enable the students:

To exchange their ideas and views with a person who speaks, reads and writes English, no matter what nationality, he is and which part of the world, he lives in, and to acquire knowledge, ideas, skills and techniques imparted formally or informally through English whether in spoken, written or printed form. (Curriculum 2028:61)

         

          New courses were designed and English began to teach from Grade IV. Textbooks were prepared according to the aims and objectives of NESP (2028). Oral structural situational (OSS) approach, the new approach of teaching was introduced. Instead of focussing Grammar Translation Method (GMT), the structures of the language were practised to speak and write English language more effectively. Though the English course after NESP (2028) brought overall change in the field of education, it could not improve teaching as was expected because training teachers and physical facilities were inadequate.

National Education Commission (NEC 2049 B.S.)     

          After twenty one year of NESP (2028) implementation, another commission which is known as National Education Commission (NEC) was formed in 2049 B.S. NEC (2049) tried to avoid the weakens of NESP (2028). It also brought a new change in education system especially in English courses. New textbooks from Grade IV to higher level were changed step by step. The communicative approach was gradually introduced and techniques were applied. Teaching of English from Grade I was applied. The course design of high-school was also changed. However, the situation of teaching\learning English is still the same as it had been. As such the survey relevant to the old course based on 0SS approach and new course based on communicative approach has been inevitable.

          English language teaching\learning activities are in the process of change. Significant developments on the nature of foreign language teaching\learning have been developed. The western countries have developed bewildering approaches, methods and techniques. We have been adopting them without making any researches and experiments on their suitability. We used some methods like grammar translation method, direct method and oral structural situational approach. Because of the changing needs of English for Nepalese learners, these perspectives on teaching language seemed as if they are out of date.

          Currently, communicative approach is a major concept in English language teaching. It has been applied since early 1970s in the west. It prepares the learners for communication by involving them in learning process. It enables the students to communicate using the target language. Still some teachers emphasize learning structure of foreign language but structures are not enough to learn languages because students are only able to know structures and are unable to speak and write target language. The current textbooks of high - school focus on communicative activities. The former approach is teacher - oriented where as the present one is student oriented. This is a brief survey on how English was introduced in Nepal and which methods were used in teaching it.