Getting a high school diploma in Nepal is notoriously difficult. Let me share a ROUGH calculation: In the last 20 years, 12 lakh (regular) students have failed the SLC while only 6 lakh have passed the SLC. [Keep in mind that Nepali kids start dropping out of school from Class 1 onward. One estimate I read somewhere says that if 100 kids start out in Class 1 in Nepal, only 12 of them will go on to actually sit for the SLCs, and of that 12, 8 will fail the SLCs.) Think about the tremendous waste of human talents we tolerate in Nepal -- year in and year out. Anyway, of the 6 lakh who passed (i.e. those who went on for +2 in Nepal) the SLC in the last 20 years, two-thirds of them flunked their Intermediate or +2. So, total passed altogether: ONLY 2 lakh proper high school graduates have been produced in the last 20 years in Nepal. Of these, only the most ambitious and the able go on to finish college in and out of Nepal, and (some of them might even post their comments on Sajha.com!). Whether we like it or not, these the nation is built pretty much by these 2 lakh people . . .that is, these 2 lakh AT LEAST high school-passed Nepalis. Getting a +2 Pass certificate in Nepal is a matter of privilege and luck and NOT a right. So, let the kids -- who have ALREADY studied Nepali for 10 long years -- NOW decide how they want to position themselves for higher studies and for the job market. If some of the kids REALLY want to learn Nepali in Class 11, fine, make their schools put resources to bring in good teachers and set up good systems for Nepali instruction. But if the kids, having learnt Nepai compulsorily since Class 1, NOW want to learn math or home science or accounting instead of Nepali, LET THEM HAVE THAT CHOICE TOO. Here, I am all for making EVEN English an OPTIONAL subject. Let the Nepali kids flourish by studying whatever it is that they have talents for. If they really need English to do well, they'll figure out a learn it well. [Nepali Chinese-language tourist guides pick up Chinese in one year because the fluency in Chinese is related to their dal-bhaat concerns; while the same guides will have spent 15 years learning English, and will still be nowhere in terms of writing and speaking it fluently.] Education, especially everything above primary levels, is all about choices: figuring out what you are good at, and making your choices accordingly so that you can go on to be happy, productive citizens on your own terms . . . that should be the goal of every one concerned about the state of education in Nepal. ******************* We all love Nepali language. A Nepali's love for Nepali language should never be questioned like the love one has for one's mother. This is a given. But what profoundly angers me is that these fire-breathing members of "Nepali bhasa" brigade: a) WRAP themselves up -- Panchayat-style -- with the jhanda of nationalism b) Start throwing their "you are unpatriotic" flames to others who love Nepali bhasa as much as they do but have other ideas about making it OPTIONAL in Class 11 c) REFUSE to use statistics, pass/fail rates and other relevant numbers to make their arguments d) USE shrill emotional arguments to intimidate those holding different views e) REFUSE to acknowledge that the job markets out there in Nepal and outside (unless you aim to work as a clerk at Sajha Prakashan) place NO value whatsoever on literary Nepali skills And the way they got that decision reversed was through pure emotional blackmail and intimidating tactics and by accusing the other side of bad faith and worst motives -- NOT through sensible, realistic arguments. If any of you are really interested in seeing the smorsgasbord of choices available to Class 11 students in Nepal, take a look at this: -http://www.moe.gov.np/stats/stat_hseb.php oohi ashu