[WHAT'S NEW ?]

The Program for Research on Poverty Alleviation Supports Opening of First School in Santal Language

The Adivasi (indigenous peoples) constitute the oldest and, often, the original inhabitants of this land. They constitute many different peoples with different languages. In the northern part of Bangladesh the Adivasis numbered 2.2 million in the late sixties but now have declined to 0.8 million. This decrease in their population is symptomatic of the continuing encroachment into their lands and their livelihood by the dominant Bengalis. The Adivasis are currently amongst the poorest and the most deprived in Bangladesh. They have extremely high level of illiteracy and low access to healthcare services. They have been systematically evicted from their ancestral lands and have lost many of their traditional occupations.

The Santals are the largest of the Adivasi Community in northern Bangladesh. As participants in the peasant rebellions of the 40's and 50's and in the War of Independence in 1971 many Santals were killed and their villages burnt down. They still are confronted with endemic violence from the Bengali community and often the state. The Adivasi Parishad has been organizing the Santals to stand up for their rights. A major demand of the Adivasis was the setting up of primary schools in their own languages. The Program for Research on Poverty Alleviation supported the Adivais Parishad to develop a primary school curriculum that is sensitive to the needs of the Santals and to develop textbooks in the Santal language. The Adivasi Parishad spent a year researching on the curriculum and developing the textbooks. The culmination of this exercise was the launching of the first Santal School in the Santal language in Bangladesh.

The Santal school was set up in Barshapara village of Deopara union of Godagari thana in Rajshahi, on the 20th March,1999. The village, much like all Adivasi villages, has no electricity and no drinking water. In fact, there are no NGOs working within a few miles of this village. Santal children, who do attempt to enter the government school program, cannot understand the language (Bangla) spoken in schools. They also face discrimination from the teachers as well as from the students. Very few Santal children therefore, ever go to school. Of those that do, most drop out. The Program for Research on Poverty Alleviation funded Adivasi School is housed in a Santal village with Santal students and a Santal teacher teaching in the Santal language. However, to prevent Adivasi children from being totally isolated from the mainstream the Bangla script is introduced (the Santals have no written script) and textbooks written in Bangla. The textbooks however use Santal words and slowly create a bridge between the Santal language and the Bangla language. It is expected that primary schooling in this method will equip Santal students to enter mainstream government secondary schools. The Adivasi Parishad is continuing their action research to further develop the school as a prototype that can be replicated by others.

The Santals in the villages around Barshapara are very excited about the school. They feel this will allow their children with an education that will both help them be part of the mainstream as well as provide them with a sense of their own history, their own culture and pride in themselves as Santals.