Masum Billah :Nepal English Language Teachers’ Association (NELTA) invited me to attend its 19th International Conference held in Kathmandu and Hetauda respectively. This was my second visit to the land of the daughter of Himalayas. The journey was exciting indeed not only for its tourist attractions but also a group of my young friends from British Council and English in Action visited together. I had two presentations titled ‘Teacher Motivation is Important in ELT Classroom’ and ‘Challenges to teach English to Adult Learners.’ The first one was at Kathmandu and the second one was at Hetauda, a town in the Makwanpur District of the Narayani Zone in Southern Nepal and 84 Kilometers away from Kathmandu. It is also the administrative headquarters of the Makwanpur District. Hetauda is considered one of the cleanest and greenest cities in Nepal. Due to its geographical features and its climate, it has been a popular choice for people migrating from the northern hilly regions to the south and from the southern Terai region, hence its causing increase in the population every year .I took keen interest to learn how NELTA arranges its regional conferences successfully which drove me to Hetauda. Nepal English Language Teachers Association enjoys both moral and monetary support from American Embassy and British Council which contributed to developing 39 regional branches of NELTA converging 42 districts out of 75. Of course , a group of highly dedicated, motivated, interested, enthusiastic and hard-working teachers both from urban and rural areas of Nepal have made it happen. We do appreciate their effort. Though it was a conference on English language teaching situation in Nepal, it opened wide scope before me to learn the political situation of Nepal and social advancements and I tried to observe and learn critically these issues. The whole of Nepal in general and Kathmandu city in particular experience serious shortage of electricity even though they have ample natural opportunities to produce electricity. Nepal experiences probably the worst situation of electricity supply among all the SAARC countries even though she has the greatest opportunity to produce hydro-electricity because of her natural situation. It indicates many things and have much learning for us. A country cannot go ahead even though Nature has given her wealth to that country with a lavish hand. Human management and political unrest can engulf every good effort. Nepal is not a single example in this respect. The number of tourists pouring into Kathmandu and other tourist areas tend to fatten their economy. Still, the sign of poverty prevails everywhere. I don’t have any hesitation to say that the English Teachers Association of Nepal is stronger and better than that any other SAARC countries. They have 39 individual branches across of the country which hold individual seminars and conferences regularly. The enthusiasms of the teachers scattered across the hilly country and their eagerness to learn and bring about professional development have convinced both American Embassy and British Council to continue their support towards NELTA. Teachers come to attend NELTA Conference which is held in two phases. First one at Kathmandu and the second one at any regional city of Nepal to give benefit to the rural and remotest teachers of the country which we must appreciate. Teachers come of their own accord and own expenses which can be a good learning for the teachers of Bangladesh. Our teachers don’t want to receive any training until they are promised any monetary benefit. It means they are only extrinsically motivated. But intrinsic motivation plays a significant role for any sort of professional development . Intrinsic motivation comes from within a professional. Outside factors don’t influence those who are intrinsically motivated. My observation says that most of the Nepalese teachers are intrinsically motivated. And this is why Nepal can arrange such kind of international conferences every year. Undoubtedly it’s a huge gathering and huge endeavor. This year NELTA gathered educationists, researchers, teachers, teacher educators from thirty countries. Great event indeed! What we people do in Bangladesh being in a more advantageous position than Nepal?My previous visit to Nepal could not draw some social ins and outs but this time it caught attention of those points. Every shop, hotel and business centers prefer taking Indian rupees and dollars. Dollar is treated as international coins. So its okay. But why Indian rupees dominate Nepalese market has raised many questions in my mind. They are not a province of India. Still how they prefer using Indian currency? Besides, I talked to many people belonging to various professions who show their anger Indian policy towards them. Another thing made me completely surprised. I talked a teacher of Trivbhuban University who told me his father was serving in Indian Army. I asked him how was it possible being a citizen of one country, serves in the army for other country. But he seemed to be quite comfortable and pleased that his father served in The Indian Army. He is pleased with Indian policy towards them. This situation reminds me of the situation of Bangladesh. We have many people who adore any Indian policy towards us. They don’t find any harm whatever India does towards us. Some even forget that we are an independent nation and this independence has not come automatically. We had to sacrifice a lot and India definitely contributed a lot to make it happen but they have also huge interest in Bangladesh which none can deny. What policy they show towards us? To get an Indian visa from Bangladesh is harder than managing a USA Visa. Their attitude towards the people living near the border and their harrowing tales make us really worried. Many Nepalese are quite aware of Indian big-brother policy toward her neighbours. When asked about electricity situation to a hotel owner, he just answered ‘our electricity goes to India and we have to buy it again from them.’ I don’t know how far it is true but the sentiment of the people towards India easily surfaces. Another gentleman told me that their divided politics does not allow them to produce huge electricity though they have every natural opportunity to do so. I also saw many hydro- electric projects when coming back to Kathmandu from Hetauda along the zigzag path across the mountains. I heard most of these are in the private sectors and owned by Indian businessmen. We do appreciate Nepalese government’s visa policy which is one of the easiest ones for tourists. Visa system is very easy and no visa fee for SAARC countries. This is another positive side. Taxi fare is almost like a developed country this is probably because of the tourist city and the rash of tourist has made it possible. It would give us much pleasure if we saw that Nepal has used most of its natural wealth for the welfare of the country. Nepalese natural opportunities can give benefit to her neighbors including Bangladesh as well. But who will do that and how? Still we hope to see better days in future. (Masum Billah is Program Manager: BRAC Education Program and Vice- President: Bangladesh English Language Teachers Association ( BELTA), Email: [email protected])
