Around 200 private schools operating in the Kathmandu Metropolitan City have applied to the Education Department under the city office requesting time to change their names.

Officials said that some schools have suggested new names, while others have committed to changing their foreign names within the deadline set by the metropolis.

“Almost all schools operating in the KMC with foreign names have contacted us after receiving our ultimatum,” said Nabin Manandhar, spokesperson at the metropolis. “Around 200 schools have already submitted applications for name changes, and some have also proposed alternative names.”

The City office had issued an ultimatum in the last week of March to institutional schools operating within its jurisdiction to change their foreign names within 35 days. As per Rule 154 (1) of Education Regulations, 2059 (2002), and Rule (70) of the KMC School Education Management Regulations 2074, schools must adopt names that reflect Nepali identity.

Officials said that schools should choose names from renowned persons who have made significant contributions to the country, popular cultural icons, historical places, deities, religious mythology, pilgrims sites, and heritages.

“Each and every school operating within our jurisdiction must abide by the law and follow the instructions issued by relevant authorities,” said Manandhar. “Many schools have already contacted us and expressed their readiness to follow the instructions. We hope that the remaining schools will do the same, as the deadline has not yet passed.”

The Education Department of the metropolis had warned that it would not dispatch school inspectors during board examinations to those schools that failed to change their foreign names within the deadline. According to officials this would render examinations conducted by such schools invalid.

Despite issuing similar notices in the past, officials said they are committed to enforce the law strictly this time.

The metropolis said that out of over 850 schools operating in the metropolis 324 have foreign names.

Enforcing Education Regulation 2059 and and Rule (70) of the KMC School Education Management Regulations 2074 is part of the metropolis’ efforts to improve school education. The metropolis has also started imparting training to over 2,000 school teachers working in government schools within its jurisdiction.

Professors and experts from Kathmandu University are currently conducting a four-day training at 55 centres starting this Sunday, according to Shailendra Jha, a member of the City Planning Commission.

Officials hope the skill training for teachers will help improve the quality of education, the learning outcome in government schools and make students there more competent.

The City office had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Kathmandu University for capacity building of teachers, and conducting a study on the effectiveness of teaching-learning and child psychology, among others. For this, the metropolis has allocated over Rs28 million to Kathmandu University.

The City office has already started book-free Fridays, in which people’s representatives from many local governments have shown interest.

Under the programme, students from grades 9 to 12 are taught optional short-term courses covering topics including agriculture and urban farming, cosmetology, carpentry and wood-carving, culinary arts, fashion design and clothing, electrical wiring, disaster preparedness, mobile and electronics repair, plumbing, stitching, and sculpture.

The metropolis has also introduced an integrated curriculum for grades 1 to 3, under which the knowledge of interlinked subjects are provided. Officials said that they are also incorporating extracurricular activities—music, poem recitation, essay writing, growing plants, and waste management, among other skills, into the curriculum of grades 4 to 8 for both mental and physical growth of students.