From Policy to Practice: National Dialogue on Multilingual Education in Nepal
On 29 June 2025, the Policy Research Institute (PRI) hosted a landmark public policy dialogue titled “Interlingual Teaching in the Nepali Classroom: From Policy to Practice”, held at PRI headquarters in Narayanhiti. The event brought together an impressive cross-section of stakeholders—researchers, educators, policy makers, and development partners—to deliberate on how multilingual education can be meaningfully implemented across Nepal’s school system.
The dialogue was part of the British Council–funded ELTRA Project, jointly led by Tribhuvan University (Nepal) and the University of Southampton (UK). The project’s principal investigator, Dr. Tae-Hee Choi, presented the core findings from the study, which has been working with teachers across four public schools in Kathmandu, Lalitpur, and Makawanpur to integrate translanguaging pedagogies into their daily teaching practices.
Facilitated by Dr. Ganga Ram Gautam of the Brookings Institution, the dialogue began by contextualising translanguaging—or interlingual teaching—as more than just using multiple languages in the classroom. Instead, it was framed as an inclusive pedagogical approach that enables students to access and co-construct knowledge using their full linguistic and cultural repertoires. “This approach does not simply translate content,” Dr. Gautam explained, “but weaves students’ lived experiences and mother tongues into the learning process, promoting identity, confidence, and equity.”
Dr. Choi’s presentation highlighted how participatory action research (PAR) enabled teachers to experiment with multilingual teaching methods and develop a deep understanding of how languages such as Tamang, Newar, Maithili, and Tharu can be meaningfully integrated alongside Nepali and English. A forthcoming teacher guidebook, co-developed with educators will offer practical tools and strategies to support classroom implementation.
The event drew participation from a wide range of national bodies including the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the Curriculum Development Centre, the Language Commission, and development partners such as UNESCO, UNICEF, and the British Council. Representatives from Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu University, and professional bodies such as the Linguistics Society of Nepal and the Teacher Educators Society also actively engaged in the discussion.
In his concluding remarks, Prof. Dr. Lekhnath Sharma, Executive Chairman of PRI, emphasised the critical role of research in shaping inclusive and evidence-based education policy. He reaffirmed PRI’s commitment to facilitating dialogue between academia, practitioners, and policy makers to ensure that the voices from classrooms—especially those of teachers and students in multilingual communities—inform Nepal’s ongoing education reform agenda.
This policy dialogue marked a significant step forward in bridging the policy-practice gap in language education and affirmed the value of multilingual, culturally responsive pedagogy as a pathway toward equity and inclusion in Nepal’s education system.
