Dozens of indigenous languages in the country are gradually disappearing despite efforts to preserve them.
With examples of writing and skilled speakers in many of the languages in short supply, it has proven exceedingly difficult to compile academic records, experts have said.
The decline of the languages is aggravated by members of the communities moving away from their native tongue, as they need to learn Bangla and English to thrive in mainstream society.
In 2010, the Awami League government formulated a new education policy that includes initiatives to provide primary education to members of five indigenous communities in their mother tongue. The chosen languages were Chakma, Marma, Tripura, Garo, and Sadri.
Textbooks in the five languages are now available, but most of them are collecting dust as there is a shortage of skilled teachers, according to various sources.
The government has been distributing primary school textbooks in the five indigenous languages since 2017. Initiatives to preserve up to 45 other indigenous languages of the country are virtually non-existent.
Government sources said 30 of the 50 languages are still spoken by members of the indigenous communities. However, most of them do not know how to read or write in their own alphabet, so only verbal forms of the languages remain.
According to the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), at least 43 %of the 7,000 languages spoken in the world today are endangered. Many of these belong to indigenous peoples, and UNESCO predicts that we will lose as many as 3,000 indigenous languages by the end of this century if the situation does not change.
Shortage of manpower, funding
Prof Md Moshiuzzaman, member (curriculum) of the National Curriculum and Textbook Board, told Dhaka Tribune: "A lot of time and funding is needed to recover and store the alphabet of these indigenous languages. Some of the communities do not have written literature to begin with.”
Due to the lack of written records in the languages, there is a shortage of skilled teachers and researchers who are proficient in them, he added.
The government chose to provide textbooks in Chakma, Marma, Tripura, Garo, and Sadri as these languages have written forms that can be preserved. Children of the communities are taught in their mother tongue till grade three, from when they are taught in Bangla as later textbooks are yet to be translated into the indigenous languages.
“Even after there are indigenous language versions of later textbooks are available, it is important for them to get mainstream education in Bangla and English as well. Without mainstream education, they will be deprived of their constitutional rights or benefits from the government. They all have to become proficient in various languages to survive globally,” said Prof Moshiuzzaman.
The government was also planning to introduce a textbook for Santals, but it was dropped as there was the community could not determine whether to learn the Roman, Bangla, or Manipuri alphabet, he added.
Kapaeeng Foundation Executive Director Pallab Chakma said: “Although the initiative of the government was appreciated, the success of the initiative could not reach all the levels due to the non-inclusion of other ethnic groups, non-appointment of teachers from their own community, and inadequate distribution of textbooks.”
He also said the International Mother Language Institute (IMLI) was established to research, collect and store all the languages, but it had it failed to do so.
“In the case of starting pre-primary education in the mother tongue, the most backward and endangered language should be considered as a priority, not the five most popular ones,” he added.
Belayet Hossain Talukdar, director general (additional charge) of IMLI, said: “Significant research is needed to store and document a language, and that research has to be done by someone who is skilful in that language. Many of the smaller communities can no longer speak or write their own alphabet, so it is difficult to find these skilful people.”
Demand to establish a separate Indigenous Language Academy
Currently, at least 30 million people of small ethnic groups live in several areas of Bangladesh, including the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Sylhet, and Mymensingh.
According to the IMLI, 14 languages have disappeared from the country in the last 50 years.
Sanjeeb Drong, general secretary of Bangladesh Indigenous Peoples Forum, said teachers could be recruited in the same way as in mosque-, temple- and church-based education.
Besides, special initiatives may be taken by the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs on Indigenous Education.
“When a language is eliminated, the people lose some of their identity. Only having printed books cannot protect a language, rather we need to change the state's view on indigenous issues,” he added.
He demanded the establishment of an Indigenous Language Academy like the Bangla Academy to protect the language and culture of indigenous peoples.
