The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

Speakers at the Adivasi Students' Convention yesterday urged the government to introduce the indigenous children' mother tongue as the medium of their primary education, saying rights to mother tongue can end exclusion of Adivasi students from the country's education system.

Research and development Collective (RDC), with support of Oxfam-GB, Bangladesh, organised the convention at the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Bangladesh at Asad Gate in the city.

Eminent writer Prof Mohammad Zafar Iqbal, Prof Dr HKS Arefin, Anthropology Department, Dhaka University, addressed the convention chaired by Prof Mesbah Kamal.

The convention was held as a part of observation of global action week on education from April 21.

This year, the theme of the week is "Quality Education for All: End Exclusion Now"

They identified that the language barriers are the main problems behind the drop out of the indigenous children from the primary schools.

Prof Zafar Iqbal said after the recognition of the 21st February as the International Mother Tongue Day, our responsibility to ensure the right of others' mother tongues has increased.

Prof Iqbal said only education could solve all problems of the Adivasi.

He said if Bangladesh if there had been more diversity in our community, the society would advance further.

Prof Arefin said many government officials are yet to know the rights of the adivasi and they do not treat them well.

He said if the policy makers in the country could realise that there is no division among human beings, all problems would have been solved.

Bangladesh's culture will be richer through cultural exchange with the indigenous people, he added.

Prof Mesbah Kamal suggested that the government could follow the residential school model in the Indian province of Tripura for the children of the Zoom cultivators.

Students Sohel Chandra Hazong of Dhaka University, Usey Pro Marma of Chittagong University, Pali Tripura of Jahangirnagar University and Manik Soran of Rajshahi University presented four separate keynote papers. Zannat-A- Ferdousi, Director (Advocacy and Publication) of RDC and Abu Naser Babu, Trustee of RDC, among others, were present.

Many indigenous students from the Dhaka, Chittagong, Jahangirnagar and Rajshahi Universities atteneded the convention.