Closure of schools in CHT impending?

IT is disheartening to see that the hundreds of educational institutions supported by the respective communities in the hill districts of Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachari are facing an uncertain future. That they have been left out of the nationalisation process due to a technicality with regards to land ownership is not an acceptable proposition. Now that uncertainly reigns supreme as to whether the UNDP will continue to fund these schools where 16,000 students of rural communities study – most of which are located in remote places, precisely what is going to be there fate? If we are concerned about bringing these backward communities out of poverty then it is imperative for the children to have access to education.
Experts agree that educational access in the hill districts and whatever is there should be retained and built up on. The dire economic condition and physical remoteness of where most of the hill people communities reside make it impossible for the children to enrol for regular schooling. They need incentives. Therefore the nationalisation scheme must be broadened to include these under special consideration in light of the unique set of circumstances that surround them. Should land ownership prove to be too cumbersome an issue, then steps need to be taken to relocate these schools in government-owned land. Bringing them under the government's wings would benefit both students and teachers as it would pave the way for grants to upgrade the facilities and teaching material. We urge the ministry to seriously reconsider the status of these schools and the communities they cater for so that they can be brought into the mainstream national education.