Policies on <strong>Mother</strong> <strong>Tongue</strong> and Bilingual EducationThe ethnic communities belong to diverse cultures with different languages and identities. Broadlyspeaking, there are three unique linguistic families among the tribes in Bangladesh. These are:i. Tibeto-Burmese: All the tribal people <strong>of</strong> Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) and the Garos, Kochs andTiprasii.Austro-Asiatic or Mon-Khmer: Khasis, Santal, Mundas, Mahalisiii. Dravidians: Oroans and PaharisOther tribal groups speak some form <strong>of</strong> Bengla. The Chakma and Tanchingya, for example, speak alanguage that is a dialect variant <strong>of</strong> Bangla. The Rajbanshis, Pahari, Kochs and Pathors have lost theiroriginal language, and primarily speak Bangla. In fact, almost all the tribal communities are now bilingual.They have learnt Bangla to communicate with the wider Bangali society, but they continue tospeak in their own language amongst themselves.However, there is no separate language policy in the country. Only sections have been incorporated intothe education policy documents that emphasize the importance <strong>of</strong> mother tongue in primary education.Sadly, these documents only recognize mother tongues <strong>of</strong> the larger ethnic groups. Languages <strong>of</strong> thesmall ethnic minorities have been ignored in the policy documents for a long time. During the Pakistaniregime, Urdu was given the highest priority, and then Bangla. At that time, all students had to learnUrdu from Class-III in the name <strong>of</strong> unity <strong>of</strong> the newly established State. In 1952, the first East BengalEducation System Reconstruction Committee (formed in 1949) submitted a report stating that mothertongue would be the only language taught at the primary stage, and that it would also be the medium<strong>of</strong> instruction. Two succeeding Education Commission reports, however, said nothing further aboutmother tongue-<strong>based</strong> instruction.With Bangladesh’s independence, Bangla has taken the place <strong>of</strong> Urdu and has been given thehighest priority, while English has been emphasized as a necessary language for the world <strong>of</strong> workand globalization. The first Education Commission after the country’s independence recognized that“language teaching in our schools is defective and unscientific. ………It should be removed soon.……… There is no need <strong>of</strong> learning other languages except the mother tongue up to Class-V .” Hereagain, there was an allusion to the weaknesses <strong>of</strong> Bangla-<strong>based</strong> education for all, though in furtherCommission reports, no follow-up attention was given.The National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) has never attempted to prepare textbooks in anyother language. <strong>Literacy</strong> movements, including the TLM (Total <strong>Literacy</strong> Movement), have only usedBangla as the medium <strong>of</strong> instruction.Though Government documents have ignored mother tongue-<strong>based</strong> education for small ethnic groups,Bangladesh has stated its commitment to achieving the goals and targets set internationally during thelast fifteen years. These commitments include improving basic and primary education, providing qualityeducation, ensuring a full cycle <strong>of</strong> primary education for all children, and achieving gender equity atthe secondary level. Towards this aim, the whole country was brought under the Compulsory PrimaryEducation Act in 1993. Free education, including free textbooks and food for the education programme,have furthermore been introduced to ensure education for all (EFA). Nevertheless, no particular attentionhas been given to the needs <strong>of</strong> the ethno-linguistic groups in the country for introducing a mothertongue literacy programme for indigenous communities.[ 31 ]
As a consequence, literacy rates among indigenous communities remain very low. It is worth mentioningthat a specific study on the status <strong>of</strong> literacy among tribal people has yet to be done. However, accordingto a survey in 1997 conducted by the Oraon Youth Formation Programme, the literacy rate is at itshighest in Gaibandha (28.2%), followed by Thakurgaon (26.6%), Rangpur (18.1%), Joypurhat (17.7%),Dinajpur (17.6%), Shirajgonj (14.1%), Natore (11.6%), Chapai Nowabgonj (11.3%), Noagaon (7.7%),Rajshahi (5.6%), Bogra (6.2%) and Panchagar (5.2%). (Based on the findings <strong>of</strong> the Education Programme<strong>of</strong> Oraon Community as reported by Dr. Jalil on 25 July 2003. ).Strategies and Implementation ProcessTo address the problem <strong>of</strong> low literacy among theOraon, in October 2002 the non-governmentalorganization ASRHAI launched the project,“Action Research for Developing Curriculum andEducational Materials for the Oraon Communitiesin the Northwest Part <strong>of</strong> Bangladesh,” or ActionResearch Project (ARP) in short, with direct supportfrom UNESCO Bangkok. The purpose <strong>of</strong> the projectwas to develop mother tongue-<strong>based</strong> educationmaterials for the Oraon community.Following an intensive survey, the research teamselected Agholpur Oroan village under GodagariUpazila for the location <strong>of</strong> the project. The teamset up a laboratory school for the Oraon childrento conduct action research and to develop an MTliteracy programme in one <strong>of</strong> the Oran languagescalled Sadri.The Oraon community <strong>of</strong> northwest Bangladesh isthe second largest tribal community living on theplains <strong>of</strong> Bangladesh in a remote and rural area, Oraon people are found in the districts <strong>of</strong> Panchagar,Thakurgaon, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Joyopurhat, Noagon, Rajshahi, Chapainwabgonj, Natore, Sirajgonj,Gaibandha, Bogura in the Northwest and in Gazipur, Habigonj and Moulavibazar in the East. The density<strong>of</strong> Oraon people is also considerable in Rajshahi and Naogaon districts. Godagari is a densely-populatedsub-district <strong>of</strong> Rajshahi.Population <strong>of</strong> Godagari is 217,811, <strong>of</strong> which 50.88 percent is male and 49.12 percent is female. Religiousaffiliation <strong>of</strong> the population includes Muslims (86.55%), Hindus (8.05%), Christians (1.93%) and others(3.47%). Those <strong>of</strong> different ethnicities, including the Santals, account for 3,749 families. Average literacyis 27.6 percent, (male 32.3% and female 22.6%). [A.K.M Kaisaruzzaman].[ 32 ]
- Page 1 and 2: Mother Tongue-basedLiteracy Program
- Page 3 and 4: Mother Tongue-based Literacy Progra
- Page 5 and 6: ContentsAcronymsviPartI 1Mother Ton
- Page 7 and 8: AcronymsIndiaZSSTLCPLPCEIPCLGZSSSRC
- Page 9 and 10: PartI
- Page 11: Mother TongueLiteracy Programmesin
- Page 14 and 15: Entrenchment of the common (majorit
- Page 16 and 17: Table 1: Linguistic Contexts of the
- Page 18 and 19: It may be noted that there is no re
- Page 20 and 21: “If we stop using our language, i
- Page 22 and 23: their normal lives and communicatio
- Page 24 and 25: the project ensured that community
- Page 26 and 27: Also, it was important to identify
- Page 28 and 29: conservation. Tharu traditional pra
- Page 31 and 32: In Thailand, participation in schoo
- Page 33 and 34: would there be projects to cover al
- Page 35 and 36: © UNESCO/D. Riewpituk
- Page 37: BackgroundBangladesh is a delta lan
- Page 41 and 42: Orthography DevelopmentDuring early
- Page 43 and 44: and discussion in the plenary, age-
- Page 45 and 46: qualifications in the tribal commun
- Page 47 and 48: Before opening the school, the rese
- Page 49 and 50: Networking with Other Organizations
- Page 51 and 52: A small baseline study was conducte
- Page 53 and 54: parents of the children studying in
- Page 55 and 56: Awareness Creation and Opinion Form
- Page 57 and 58: Table 2: At-a-Glance Status of MT S
- Page 59 and 60: Tasks for National and Internationa
- Page 61 and 62: © POEYS
- Page 63 and 64: BackgroundCurrent Situation of Mino
- Page 65 and 66: of instruction, but the Bunong chil
- Page 67 and 68: Process and Cost of Developing and
- Page 69 and 70: vocabulary, containing only sounds
- Page 71 and 72: Impact of the ProjectImpact on Educ
- Page 73 and 74: NetworkingThe MoEYS and UNESCO have
- Page 75 and 76: Komly Boek: Bilingual NFE TeacherMy
- Page 77 and 78: © Norman Geary
- Page 79 and 80: BackgroundThe Kam 1 of south centra
- Page 81 and 82: ‘Rice feeds the body, songs feed
- Page 83 and 84: (Putonghua) in education. Neverthel
- Page 85 and 86: do anything else with Chinese. Now
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Kam Children SingThe singing classe
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Thus, the book-fees for a child to
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advisers to the Project since its b
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Capacity to Learn the National Lang
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they were persuaded of its value (t
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detached from the village and diffe
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© State Resource Centre Assam
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BackgroundIndia is home to a large
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In the case of adult literacy, we h
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Curriculum and Learning Materials D
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About 70 volunteer teachers were en
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The majority of the learners have c
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the regional language and finally t
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[ 108 ]© BP-PLSP
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In attempting to meet one of the go
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Indonesian Policies on Mother Tongu
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Nature and LivelihoodCommunity peop
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No. Material Time1. The Policy of S
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Networking with CommunityMembers, G
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BP-PLSP Region II has distributed a
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Impact of theProgrammeThe KFBI prog
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Phase II. Learning activities inclu
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After learning some skills, learner
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© BASE
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© BASEBackground‘If we stop usin
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een forced into bonded labor. Cultu
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cows, bulls, sheep, and goats) kept
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Most of the NFE programmes implemen
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The Key Word Approach was used whil
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how to read and write which helps t
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In short, the Tharu mother tongue l
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© ONFEC
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In 2006, Thailand celebrated an aus
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Minister of Education Chaturong Cha
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All of the NPKOM teachers have asso
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simple sentence structures and much
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Teaching Plan: Bridging to the Nati
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Impact of the ProjectImpact on Educ
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een minimal, as books developed by
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Annexes
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Annex 2: ReferencesMother Tongue Li
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Lindholm-Leary, K. 2001. Dual Langu