Ramgarh (Khagrachhari) Correspondent :
In the Chittagong Hill Tracts, various small ethnic groups are losing their own languages due to lack of preservation.
In this situation, in order to protect their diverse mother tongue, a small ethnic group language learning center has been launched in Guimara upazila of Khagrachhari district. The language learning center was established with the initiative and efforts of Upazila Nirbahi Officer Rajeev Chowdhury.
The language learning center was set up at Sindhukchari High School in a remote area of Guimara Upazila. Two rooms in the school building are being used as language learning classrooms, one for Marma community students and the other for Tripura students.
The walls of the two classrooms are beautifully decorated with Marma and Tripura characters and various pictures. Headmaster of the school Mongkya Marma said that 30 Tripura and 30 Marma students in each batch will take a 6-month language course without any fee.
There are two teachers with special experience in the language learning center. The teacher of Marma language learning center Chaire Prue Marma said that both the pronunciation and writing of the Marma language are taught to the students. Marma and Tripura students of 6th to 9th standard of the school are required to participate in this language learning course.
Guimara Upazila Nirbahi Officer Rajeev Chowdhury said, “The language and culture of various communities of small ethnic groups is gradually disappearing. Marma and Tripura language learning centers have been established in Sindhukchari to preserve their diverse languages. There is also a plan to set up a Chakma language learning center elsewhere in the upazila.
Meanwhile, Khagrachhari District Commissioner Md Saiduzzaman officially inaugurated the Minority Language Learning Center at Sindhukchari High School as the chief guest on Tuesday(1 October). Police Superintendent of Khagrachhari Md. Arefin Jewel was the special guest on the occasion. Upazila Nirbahi Officer Rajeev Chowdhury presided over the event. Guimara Government College principal Md Nazim Uddin, Sindhukchari High School headmaster Mongkya Marma and former president of the school Suinu Prue Chowdhury spoke among others.