same writing system. So the students’ foundation in reading and writing Rajbanshi prepares them to begin reading and writing Nepali in Grade 1, Term 2. Students continue oral and written Nepali as a subject to the end of Grade 5.
English is taught as a subject in the Nepal education system and it is the third language in this programme. Teachers introduce oral English in Grade 2, Term 2 and written English in Grade 2, Term 3. The programme team would have preferred to introduce English later to give students more time to attain proficiency in Rajbanshi and Nepali languages. However, students would not be able to achieve the expected outcomes for English by the end of Grade 5. Also, parents want their children to learn English early to help them learn about the world outside Nepal and to prepare them to find employment when they finish school. For that reason, the programme team decided to introduce oral English in Grade 2, Term 2, one year after Nepali is introduced. By that time children are familiar with activities for learning oral English because most activities are the same as for learning Nepali.
Rajbanshi and Nepali are both used as languages of instruction:
•• Kindergarten and Grade 1: Rajbanshi only for instruction
•• Grade 2: Rajbanshi with Nepali for instruction
•• Grades 3-4: Nepali with Rajbanshi for instruction.
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Grade 5: Nepali only for instruction
A 2014 evaluation report of the programme says this about the way the programme introduces languages:
This programme takes what the team calls a“ staggered approach” to the introduction of languages in the curriculum by introducing L1 Rajbanshi in Kindergarten, L2 Nepali in Grade 1, and L3 English in Grade 2.
In principle, the introduction of L2 and L3 do not need to be so early, because the focus should be on oral and literacy skills development in the L1. Building a foundation in the L1 supports better learning of the additional languages later. However, to be as consistent as possible with the national curriculum, and so that the government textbooks can be used as much as possible, the team strategically introduced Nepali in Grade 1 and English in Grade 2 in the MLE model.
The kindergarten year was added to the existing five primary grades, formally becoming the first year of a six-year cycle. Focus in the first year is on Rajbanshi language, literacy readiness, story-telling and listening, and alphabet / syllable reading and writing.
It should be noted that, similar to kindergarten in other countries, children who are not ready to move into Grade1 repeat the kindergarten year, so that the programme can ensure that incoming Grade 1 learners have a good L1 foundation and are ready to start the formal primary curriculum.
Booklet for Case Studies
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