The Kathmandu Metropolitan City said it has been verifying new names proposed to be adopted by private schools known by foreign names.

Officials at the Education Department of the metropolis said that at least 128 schools have proposed new names and sought the department’s approval to be renamed.

“Some of the schools have also changed names through the Office of the Company Registrar and requested us to approve the new name,” said Nabin Manandhar, spokesperson for the metropolis. “Other schools, too, are ready to change their names but are unable to decide due to some technical problems.”

The City office had issued an ultimatum in the last week of March to 324 institutional schools operating within its jurisdiction to change their foreign names within 35 days. As per Rule 154 (1) of the Education Regulations, 2059 (2002), and Rule (70) of the KMC School Education Management Regulations 2018, schools must adopt names that reflect the Nepali identity.

The City office had asked the schools to choose names of renowned persons who have contributed significantly to the country, popular cultural icons, historical places and deities, and from religious mythology and pilgrimage sites.

According to Manandhar, schools running +2 and bachelor programmes have not been able to decide on the new names, as they are confused about what to do with certificate-missing students [issue duplicate documents in the old names or new ones].

“We will hold a meeting of all stakeholders, including representatives of schools and experts, and decide on solutions to the problems,” said Manandhar. “As all schools operating in the metropolis are ready to abide by the rules, we will help them sort out their problems.”

Officials said that all schools operating in the KMC with foreign names had contacted them and expressed their readiness to rename.

They had warned that the metropolis would not dispatch school inspectors during board examinations to those schools that failed to change their foreign names within the deadline. This could make the examinations conducted by such schools invalid.

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

Enforcing the Education Regulations 2002 and Rule (70) of the KMC School Education Management Regulations 2018 is part of the municipal effort to improve school education. The metropolis has also started training over 2,000 teachers of government schools within its area of scope.

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

The City office has already started book-free Fridays in schools. People’s representatives from many local governments have shown interest in the initiative.

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 interlinked subjects are taught. Officials said they are also incorporating extracurricular activities—music, poem recitation, essay writing, growing plants, and waste management, among other skills—into the curricula of grades 4 to 8 for the mental and physical growth of students.