Although there were attempts to develop multilingual and multicultural education in Nepal, changes have remained more discursive than pragmatic at the working level. Problems discussed have remained unsolved. The issues of protection and promotion of the historically residing linguistic diversity have been addressed through the current constitution (Constitution of Nepal-2015) which provides an appropriate legal framework for substantive legal protection for the national indigenous languages as MOIs. However, the successful implementation of this provision is further complicated due to the global political economy, interdependence, and the ‘sandwiched’ geopolitical status of Nepal. It has been noted that education policymaking is highly centralised and implementation is top-down (Edwards, 2011) in many countries such as Nepal, the current trend of English-medium instruction supported by parents, communities, and the private sector from the bottom up will further weaken the attempts for mother tongue MOI in Nepalese schools. Moreover, the social capitalisation of English from the bottom up will have grave consequences for language policymaking in education, which are obviously dismal but essential nonetheless. Despite the research findings revealing that multilingual education offers the best possibilities for preparing the coming generation to participate in constructing more equitable and democratic societies in the globalised world, the translation of such findings into real-life practice is telescopic. This article emphasises the need for the critical engagement of scholars, educators, investors, and policymakers in order to develop contextually realistic, sustainable, and efficient MOI policymaking that justifies the use of mother tongues, national language, and the global language in an integrated framework sufficient for future generations to compete both locally and globally.

中文翻译：

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尼泊尔的教学语言（MOI）政策：争取对意识形态和教学论战的批判性参与

尽管在尼泊尔开展了多种语言和多元文化教育的尝试，但在工作层面上，变化仍然比实用主义更具争议性。所讨论的问题仍未解决。通过现行宪法（《尼泊尔宪法》，2015年）解决了保护和促进历史悠久的语言多样性的问题，该宪法为对作为土著语言的民族土著语言提供实质性法律保护提供了适当的法律框架。但是，由于全球政治经济，相互依存以及尼泊尔的“夹心”地缘政治地位，成功实施该规定的情况更加复杂。有人指出，在尼泊尔等许多国家，教育政策制定高度集中，自上而下实施（爱德华兹，2011年）。当前，由父母，社区和私营部门自下而上支持英语教学的趋势将进一步削弱尼泊尔学校使用母语教学语言的尝试。此外，自下而上的英语社会资本化将对教育中的语言政策制定产生严重影响，尽管这显然是令人沮丧的，但却是必不可少的。尽管研究结果表明，多语言教育为准备下一代参与全球化世界中更公平，民主的社会的建设提供了最佳可能性，但将这些发现转化为现实生活却是遥不可及的。本文强调需要学者，教育者，投资者和政策制定者的批判性参与，以便发展情境现实，