Until the recent past in Nepal, when one said that his / her ward studies in an ‘international school’, the jaws of listeners would drop because by the name it would mean that the child was studying in a school which was popularly associated with foreign missions and expats in Nepal. It has been natural that the expat community would like to keep their wards in best of the best schools in Nepal. While, we are writing this article and preparing a list of international schools of Nepal, many Nepali parents, guardians and caretakers have been increasingly becoming more interested in enrolling their wards in ‘international schools’ in Nepal. If they would not get seat in existing few international schools, or if they liked to remain ‘out of the savages’ as many elite families tend to do so – would send their young ones to boarding schools in various parts of India. Many institutions offering the international curriculum in Nepal have been now initiated by Nepali investors, and even the government. Nowadays, many students come to study in these schools from Nepali families living in Nepal. So, why international schools are ‘best of the best’ in Nepal? Why I am going to list quite few names in this blog series? Answer to these questions along with descriptive continuation of this article follows below and beyond in other blogs in the series.
What are ‘international schools’ in Nepal?
In Nepal, in popular terms, those schools who offer curriculum from outside the country within the premises with state-of-the-art facilities are regarded as ‘international schools’. Nepal’s regulations have mandated the schools to achieve permission from Ministry of Education to start an international school, and to continue the school. Not only the schools meant for the young ones of the expat community, other schools invested by Nepali people for Nepali people have been offering Cambridge A-levels, IB curriculum, IPC curriculum, CBSE and so on. In this series of the articles, we are going to list some international schools in Nepal with brief introduction of each.
Please consider reading the upcoming blog: What does it mean to be an ‘international school’?
Nepal’s government funded ‘international school’
Do you know that Nepal’s government funds an ‘international school’ in Kathmandu? If you just come to know this while reading this article, you might be little surprised. Many images of pathetic Nepali government funded schools have been circulating in the media – nationally and internationally. To be honest, except this international school and some model- and remarkably successful ones, many other government funded schools in Nepal are actually pathetic, or mismanaged for the longer period, unfortunately.
Budhanilkantha School was established in 1972 as a joint venture between the Government of Nepal and the Government of the UK. It lies on the base of Shivapuri hill, in Narayansthan, Kathmandu. The school has been developing consistently even after the cease of the British support – at least in the academic milestones. Infrastructure developed in the past decades has remained key attraction of the school even today. Cambridge A-levels introduced in this school in 1986 has qualified this school to make only government funded international school in Nepal.
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| Budhanilkantha School, Credit: Birkhe, Wikimedia Commons |
We expect that Nepal’s government would work for amending legislations that would open opportunities for other government-funded schools across the country to introduce international curriculum if they wish.
For more details on the school, please visit their website.
Please read the upcoming blogs in the series – International Schools in Nepal.
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