A3 National and International Legal Frameworks

Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights, 1996

Article 23:

• • Education must help to foster the capacity for linguistic and cultural self-expression of the language community of the territory where it is provided.

• • Education must help to maintain and develop the language spoken by the language community of the territory where it is provided.

• • Education must always be at the service of linguistic and cultural diversity and of harmonious relations between different language communities throughout the world.

• • Within the context of the foregoing principles, everyone has the right to learn any language.

Article 24:

• All language communities have the right to decide to what extent their language is to be present, as a vehicular language and as an object of study, at all levels of education within their territory, preschool, primary, secondary, technical and vocational; university; and adult education.

Education for All (EFA)

The Dakar framework for action for EFA is committed to ‘Ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality.’

Nepal EFA Action Plan

• • Phase I (2003–2005): To boost up the teaching of 11 minority languages which have literate traditions and textbooks (for example, Limbu, Rai Bantawa, Newari, Maithili, Urdu, Bhojpuri, Magar, Sherpa and Tharu) as a subject and medium of instruction in a multilingual context at the primary level.

• • Phase II (2006–2008): To design curricula and textbooks in minority languages which are inclined towards developing their written system and to introduce those languages and subjects and medium of instruction in the multilingual context at the primary level.

• • Phase III (2009–2011): To develop a writing system of the minority languages and to introduce those languages and subjects and medium of instruction in the multilingual context at the primary level.

• • Phase IV (2012–2013): To design curricula and prepare textbooks in order to introduce all the minority languages including the most endangered ones as the medium of instruction at the primary level of education.

• • Phase V (2014–2015): To establish at least one mother tongue school in each election constituency.