Reopen the lone Rakhine language school in Kuakata

People of Rakhine community in Kuakata have urged the government to take early steps for reopening their community school to facilitate mother language learning of their children.
Earlier Rakhine language was taught at a community school run by Rakhine people at the local Bouddha Bihar (pagoda).
But the century-old school that taught children for two hours from 7:00am to 9:00am daily was closed in 1998 due to lack of fund.
Later in January 2006, Rakhine youth Chin Than Monjur set up a community school on the ground floor of his residence at Karanipara in Kuakata to teach mother language to the community children.
He also collected some old Rakhine books from a pagoda in Chittagong.
It started with around 20/25 community children and later the number of students rose to 58.
Imtiaz Tushar, a local youth also director of Kuakata Development Society, took over the charge of the school after six months. He personally managed salary of the only teacher Monjur and other maintenance cost. He also collected some Rakhine language books from Myanmar and distributed it among students for free.
Following response from local people, Tushar also set up three more community schools in Mothaupara, Naiuripara and Nayapara in Kuakata area. Over 200 Rakhine children studied in these community schools. But after two years all these schools closed due to lack of fund.
"Our children cannot learn their mother language as there is no school here. Our new generation is about to forget their mother tongue. Many of them can speak their mother tongue as they learn it by hearing from their parents but they cannot write it," said Chin Than Monjur.
The government should set up community schools to facilitate mother language learning of Rakhine children in Kuakata, said Monchu Waen, a Rakhine leader.