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2nd Session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Geneva, Switzerland
August 10-14, 2009

Item 3 of the provisional agenda:
Study on Lessons Learned and Challenges to Achieve the Implementation of the Right of Indigenous Peoples to Education

Statement by Pallab Chakma
Chittagong Hill Tracts Hill Students’ Council (PCP)
chtpcp1989@gmail.com, pallab.chakma@yahoo.com

Mr. Chairperson, honourable indigenous brothers and sisters.

I am a representative of indigenous Jumma people from Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), the south-eastern part of Bangladesh. Bangladesh is culturally, ethnically, religiously and linguistically diversified country. There are more than 45 indigenous communities in the country with a total estimated population of nearly 3 million. Though these groups identify themselves as ‘adivasi’ or ‘indigenous’. The terms ‘ethnic minority’, ‘adivasi’, ‘indigenous’ and ‘tribal’ are used interchangeably within documents and literature in Bangladesh. In the PRSP document, they are mentioned as ‘Indigenous Peoples’, and at the PEDPII documents as ‘Tribal’.

The indigenous peoples of Bangladesh are facing various difficulties regarding their rights to education. Irrelevancy of curriculum with the local culture and social context, language barriers between teachers and students, recruitment or appointment of teachers from non-indigenous community, less numbers of schools and remoteness of communities, unfavourable school calendar, inappropriate government policy for indigenous children’s education are some of the most difficult obstacles to educational access faced by the indigenous groups. The education system is managed on one fixed model, without considering the need to make changes to deliver the education rights of indigenous peoples. 

Under the provisions of the constitution of Bangladesh, the government undertakes some affirmative actions in favour of indigenous peoples including quota reservation in the government jobs and educational institutions for ‘tribal’ students. However government does not have any written policy of quota reservation. The public universities also don’t have clear policy in terms of admitting indigenous students. Government of Bangladesh formulated national Child Policy in 1994 but there is no single word on indigenous child.

Mr. Chairperson, Bangladesh is signatory to numerous international conventions including ILO 107 and International Convention on Rights of Child. According to these international instruments government has to formulate its national policies for upholding the rights of concern groups. But we don’t see so in practical.
 
Government has the commitment to provide education in mother tongue to the Indigenous Peoples under its CHT Accord 1997, PEDPII and PRSP. But, due to centralized national curriculum system for all over the country, the system can not address the local specific context of the Indigenous Peoples. Political commitment from the government to translate the strategy and programmes into practice is essential to ensure Indigenous People’s rights to education through mother tongue.

 

Recommendations: International community can support national governments to deliver on commitments to indigenous education through policy advocacy and sensitization initiatives, with particular focus on-

  1. To introduce education through mother tongue for indigenous children.
  2. To include indigenous peoples’ perspectives to the national education policy
  3. To fully implement the CHT Accord 1997
  4. strengthen local capacity for locally relevant, participatory education which values indigenous cultures and languages
  5. Prioritize flexible delivery methods for all educational programmes to ensure quality inclusive education for Indigenous Peoples
  6. To formulate national policy according to international conventions that Bangladesh ratified.

Thank you Mr. Chairperson, thank you all for your kind attention.

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