Call for separate edn policy for indigenous students

Prof Kabir Chowdhury speaks at a roundtable at the National Press Club yesterday.Photo: STAR

Speakers at a roundtable said a separate education policy should be formulated for higher education of the indigenous students.
The policy would give a guideline to the indigenous people in their representation and participation in higher education, they added.
The speakers further said the base of education for them should be strengthened by providing primary education in their mother tongues.
Styled 'Problems and prospects of indigenous people in higher education', the roundtable was organised by Bangladesh Adivasi Odhikar Andolon (BAOA) at the National Press Club in the city to mark the International Day of the World's Indigenous People.
Speaking as the chief guest, Prof Kabir Chowdhury said indigenous students should be given the primary education in their mother tongues, adding that ethnic groups be given their due rights, Bangladesh is a multi-cultural country.
Presenting a keynote paper, H Nanacha and Pari Chingtham, two indigenous students, said there is a need for formulation of a separate education policy for higher education of the indigenous people.
Traditional quota for the indigenous students in the universities should be increased and the process of admission should be transparent, they added.
In the paper, they recommended providing primary education for the indigenous students in their mother languages, resolving their accommodation problems, providing scholarships and giving proper security to the female students.
Bangladesh Indigenous Peoples Forum General Secretary Sanjib Drong said indigenous people are deprived historically as the deprivation started from the colonial time, adding that there are politics behind the deprivation on them.
Prof Dalim Chandra Barman of Dhaka University said indigenous students need to get prepared for competition in the higher education but they need strong educational base for it. For that, they should be taught with their mother tongues in primary schools.
“There is no participation of indigenous people in the policy making level. So, nobody asks them what their problems are and what they need to solve those problems,” he added.
Presided over by BAOA General Secretary Mesbah Kamal, the meeting was also addressed by BAOA Chairman Prof HKS Arefin and Rajib Tripura.