The indigenous communities of Bangladesh live in vulnerable situations and they are deprived of fundamental human rights. Article 28 of the UNCRC recognises children's right to education that is free and compulsory, and Article 30 "protects Adivasi children's cultural and language rights further."

Primary education is the most significant part of all institutional education. Our education system focuses chiefly on primary education, that is up to class five. All of these are run by the active initiation and patronisation by the government, non-government and other organisations of our country.

Unfortunately there is neither any attention nor a different arrangement or any kind of special allotment from our government to the ethnic communities for the education of their children. Moreover, last annual budget (2006-2007) did not allocate money for this field.

The special affairs division of the prime minister allotted small amount of money for the development of ethnic culture and education, but there are no concrete information and statistics preserved on it. If we look at the national education policy in 2000, there was nothing specific about the indigenous people and targeting non-discriminatory curriculum in the education system.

On the other hand, National Education Commission (in 2003) suggested the initiative to set up 100 schools in the remote and ethnic residing areas in next ten years. This is the present situation of education where some of the NGOs and organisations are responsible for the development of ethnic community.

National plan of action (NPA-II) clarified the education system for poor, indigenous, and disabled children. NPA II also proposed to use modern equipment for the indigenous children. Out of four major areas of NPA, one is early childhood education. The Dakar framework for action emphasises the development and extension of early childhood education within the marginalised and vulnerable children's communities.

This issue is also supported in the PRSP. PRSP mentioned seven points as a mid-term strategy for Bangladesh on poverty reduction. One of those important issues is quality education. PRSP emphasised participation of the indigenous children, recommended preserving the languages of indigenous people, incorporating their culture into the national curriculum, and education in mother tongue.

The foreign donors, education specialists, NGOs, and also the government have identified the important issue as easy access to school and quality education for indigenous children. The second primary education development plan (PEDP-II) included an overall situational analysis of primary education and sets some strategies and action plan for children of ethnic community.

This analysis focused on four main areas: lack of access, poor quality, cultural inappropriateness, and lack of the local control and involvement. It is obvious that the key factor in these problems is language.

The Board of National Education program follows a common textbook for primary education and all of these textbooks are written in Bangla. These textbooks are appropriate for Bengali children but not for ethnic children. Thus large number of indigenous children drop out from school because of their lack of command over Bangla and English.

Bangla, the major medium of instruction in the primary education curriculum, is little known to the ethnic children, thus it acts as a serious impediment for education for the ethnic people. A statistic published in Daily Ittefaq on October 22, 2005 shows that, the drop-out rate of ethnic children is about 70%. And lack of proper education in primary school causes terribly bad results at high school level.

In Bangladesh, one quarter of total ethnic population are children. The approximate number of four to ten year old children who are going to school or ready to start school is half a million.

The birth rate in Bengali community is much less than the ethnic community. Due to lack of proper education, the birth rate in the ethnic community is rising. The result is the economic and social crisis in the indigenous communities.

Education is a fundamental right of every citizen. The government of Bangladesh is responsible to ensure education by creating scope and opportunities for the every citizen. Since two decades under the National Policy of Education, Bangladesh government has taken a number of initiatives to raise the literacy level. But the government did not take a single mentionable initiative to ensure education for the children of ethnic community.

All initiatives which have been taken so far are by NGOs and other donor agencies in and outside of Bangladesh. Against this opinion, reference is clear as we look back to the peace accord of hill tracts that incorporated the provision for primary education irrespective of mother tongues of the ethnic peoples.

Near about 10 years have passed since signing but still no sign of initiative to execute the rule (Rule 33-Kha/2) underlined: "Education through mother language." Only education can enrich the lives of the indigenous people. But no initiative has yet been taken by the government. UN has mentioned clearly that language is the principle tool of education and that instruction should be in mother language.

It also declares that each and every child has right to education. But, if language becomes an obstacle for the pupil then the whole system of education will collapse and education will not spread out to all.

As the mother language of ethnic communities is not Bangla, the language and content of the textbooks taught in the school is not familiar to their cultural circumstances. With all these obstacles no one can expect an effective atmosphere where an ethnic child can get proper education.

One survey throughout the hill tracts shows the rate of drop-out from school is up to as much as 40% due to language barrier. In 1994, with the financial aid of BRAC a research investigation was done on the "the possibilities of bilingual education for ethnic communities." This investigation revealed that language is the primary reason the ethnic children drop out from school.

This research initiative also highlights some other obstacles such as poverty, attitude of the teachers and other (Bengali) students, textbook, and the need to work.

One report on a comparative rate of drop-out children between Bengali and ethnic communities shows that, each year the rate of drop-out from Bangali community is 30% whereas the drop-out rate from ethnic community in the hill tracts is 70%.

In Rangamati 73% children get admission in school but 55% of students leave school before completing their primary education. In some remote areas like Thanchi in Bandarban there is no school. The report was also focused on obstacles like difficult geographical conditions, not having mother tongue as a medium of education, and poverty, which are the main cause of non-developed education system in that region.

In 1991, data from census shows 14.1% rate of education in ethnic community. This data gives us a clear conception that the number of female students is much less than the male students. A ethno-linguistic study executed by Fazle Rabbi, Unesco (2004) expressed the following rate of education among the ethnic communities in Rangamati:

Boam-25%, Chack-5%, Chackma-55%, Marma-20%, Tanchanggha-31%, Kheang-14%, and Tripura-30%.

A report by Oraon formation program in 1997 mentioned an average rate of education in greater North Bengal. In that report the literacy rate in Oraon community is 14%.

There are a number of government primary school in the hill tracts and other ethnic community areas in Bangladesh. Though rules and opportunities are equal for children from ethnic and Bengali community, but in reality the children from ethnic community are often deprived of those rights.

Moreover, opportunities are too limited to give education to all children in ethnic communities. Still roughly fifty percent of ethnic children are staying back from any kind of education opportunity in the greater hill tracts region. However, children from ethnic communities are learning in their mother tongue in Tripura and Mizoram, the neighbouring provinces of India.

We also found very limited initiatives that have been taken from different NGOs to enrich system and the rate of education among the ethnic communities of Bangladesh.

Education without mother tongue is the major obstacle in primary education for multicultural students. To enrich and ensure children's mental and physical growth education through mother tongue is the most important factor for their development.

The goal of education for all will not achieved with out the priority policy for indigenous children's primary education through government initiatives. And we need a bridge between the education and mother tongue especially for our deprived indigenous communities of Bangladesh.

Recommendations

• More schools in every village of indigenous community.
• Medium of primary education should be in mother tongue.
• Textbooks should be written in ethnic language.
• Recruitment of teachers must be from within the community.
• Ensuring supervision and monitoring with the support of the communities.
• Ensure cent percent attendants in school. If necessary, health and financial assistance (stipends) can be served.
• School calendar should be adjusted according to the local traditions, religion, work and weather.
• Need for special allocations from national budget.
• Government of Bangladesh should take responsibility for child education of indigenous community.

Shourav Sikder is a writer, researcher and teacher, Dept. of Linguistics, University of Dhaka.