The Approaches and Implications of English Medium of Instruction in Nepal’s Private Schools

In this report, I discuss how English Medium of Instruction (EMI) is approached by private schools in Nepal and its implications on larger society. Nepal’s increasing demand for EMI, and thus private schools, has contributed to a variety of social issues including inaccessibility and a dying culture. By situating EMI in Nepal’s education system, I explore how the privatization of schools and the wide implementation of EMI is both a result of neoliberalism and a contributing factor to such ideologies. Observations of EMI classes and non-academic spaces on school grounds, in addition to interviews and focus groups with students and teachers were conducted at two private secondary schools in Kathmandu V alley. My discussion includes an analysis of how different school environments can affect student’s acquisition of a second language, students’ defaulting to their native language in general conversation versus academic settings, perception of English as a superior and essential language, changing language practices across generations, and the inequities that the privatization of education produces.