KATHMANDU — Nepal said on Monday it was banning secondary schools from using names like "Oxbridge", "White House" and "NASA" over fears that the education system is losing its Nepali culture.

The announcement follows a series of protests by student and youth groups -- sometimes violent -- outside schools across the country which have chosen foreign names.

"We have informed the schools to change their name to Nepali. This is clearly written in the laws but several schools were found violating them," education ministry spokesman Janardan Nepal told AFP.

"They will be given enough time to change the names. But it should not take long," Nepal said, without specifying a deadline.

Nepal depends on foreign governments and aid agencies for around 25 percent of its 65-billion-rupee ($715 million) education budget and cash-strapped schools often try to attract funding and pupils with "prestigious" western names.

An estimated 250 secondary schools in Kathmandu are named after European and US historical figures, institutions and places, such as "Einstein Academy" and "Pentagon College."

Last month the United Nations voiced "deep concern" over escalating violence against schools in Nepal by militants it said were endangering children's lives and jeopardising their right to education.

Local media have blamed student wings of various political factions for destroying computers in a Kathmandu college and torching school buses in the capital, the southern district of Chitwan and the eastern city of Dharan.

 

Student Unions Want Schools With Foreign Names To Be Replaced With Nepali Names

KATHMANDU, Aug 6 (Bernama) -- The Department of Education (DoE) has proposed replacing English and foreign names of higher secondary schools with Nepali names within six months.

The DoE relented after various student unions started a series of protest against higher secondary schools with foreign names and even attacked a few, claiming that such names were against national interest, according to local media.

DoE director Tek Narayan Pandey said the proposal was submitted to the Ministry of Education last week and would be implemented once the ministry endorsed it, Xinhua news agency quoted local media as saying.

"All the schools with foreign names will have to rename themselves within six months of the proposal being endorsed," said Pandey.

Pandey said no higher secondary school will be allowed a foreign name once the policy is implemented.

Although the Education Regulations, published in the Nepal gazette on January 23, 2011 clearly states that academic institutions should be named after national figures, religious figures and natural resources, the DoE, District Education Offices (DEO) and Higher Secondary Education Board (HSEB) have been granting affiliations to academic institutions with foreign names.

"Since we provide affiliations only on the recommendation of the DEO and the DoE, they are more responsible for the present situation," said HSEB member secretary Bhim Lal Gurung.

Some 250 higher secondary schools have foreign names in the capital Kathmandu Valley.

--BERNAMA