KK Sai Marma is a young Marma boy from the hill region. His home is in Rajasthali upazila of Rangamati.
Although his mother tongue is Marma, he had to begin learning Bangla at a very early age for education. From the moment he was admitted to primary school, he became familiar with Bangla and English through the medium of instruction and the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) textbooks used there. Both the language and accent were completely unfamiliar to him.
At the next stage of his academic life, the linguistic landscape became even more complex. While studying at Rangunia Public School and College, he regularly heard the Chittagong regional dialect in everyday conversations. By listening to classmates and people around him, he gradually learned to understand the dialect to some extent, though he has yet to master it fully.
Currently a student at Siddheshwari College, KK Sai Marma said: “The path of learning languages is not easy for us at all. Marma is my mother tongue, but for education and daily life, I had to learn Bangla, English, and the Chittagong dialect from a very young age. This puts our education and our lives under constant pressure.”
Rajasthali is the smallest upazila in Rangamati district. It is bordered by Kaptai to the north, Rowangchhari and Bandarban Sadar to the south, Belaichhari to the east, and Rangunia of Chittagong to the west.
According to 2022 statistics, the population of this hilly area stands at 27,864. Several indigenous communities live here, including Chakma, Marma, Tanchangya, Tripura, Chak, Khumi, Lusai, and Pankhoa.
The literacy rate in the upazila is only 34%. There are two colleges, three secondary schools, four junior secondary schools, and 53 primary schools. While the number of institutions appears adequate on paper, maintaining continuity in education is extremely difficult for children in reality.
In the villages of Rajasthali, children grow up speaking their mother tongue from birth. At home, in the neighbourhood, and in social life, that language dominates daily communication.
The situation changes once they enter school. There, the medium of instruction is Bangla and English, and all official textbooks, including those published by the NCTB, are available only in these languages.
At the same time, to navigate village markets, administrative processes, and many social spaces, children must also learn the Chittagong regional dialect, as a significant settler population lives in the area.
As a result, indigenous children are exposed to four languages simultaneously: their mother tongue, the Chittagong dialect, Bangla, and English. Burdened by this linguistic pressure, many fail to gain proficiency in any of them.
Even after enrolling in school, a large number of indigenous children are unable to continue their education. Many drop out after completing primary school, and among those who remain, very few manage to progress beyond secondary education.
After passing the Junior School Certificate (JSC) examination in 2018 from Rajasthali Islampur Government Primary School, Aung Chaway Marma did not return to school.
With his father deceased, his mother struggled to support the family alone. He was forced to leave school and enter the workforce. He now earns a living by driving a “chander gari” in Bandarban town.
He said: “I didn’t really like going to school anyway. Studying felt difficult. Along with my own language, I can manage Bangla. But I still cannot properly speak English or the Chittagong dialect.”
A teacher at a government primary school in Rajasthali said many children struggle to understand Bangla: “When questions are asked in class from NCTB textbooks, they cannot answer. Gradually, they lose interest and eventually stop coming to school.”
He added that students who somehow manage to complete primary education often struggle severely at the secondary level. Subject-based learning, particularly science and mathematics, is heavily affected by language barriers, and the language-intensive content of NCTB textbooks makes the challenge even greater.
In 2025, of the 525 SSC examinees from the upazila, only 184 passed, while 341 failed. The average pass rate was 35.05%, and no student achieved GPA-5.
By contrast, in 2024, 721 students from five institutions in Rajasthali sat for the SSC examinations, with 371 passing.
This sharp decline in both examinees and successful candidates within a single year has raised serious concerns about educational quality and outcomes.
Seven-year-old May Pru Marma, a Class Two student at Yongmrongpara Government Primary School in Rajasthali, softly described her experience: “I speak Marma with my mother. In school, the books are in Bangla. The teacher reads, but I don’t understand many words. When I can’t understand, I feel sad. Sometimes I cry and don’t want to go to school.”
A Marma parent from Rajasthali said his son dropped out after studying for several years: “My son speaks Marma at home. He cannot understand the books at school. After failing repeatedly, he no longer wanted to go to school.”
According to data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) and BANBEIS, dropout rates at both primary and secondary levels are higher than the national average in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and other indigenous-populated areas. Education researchers identify language barriers as a key factor.
Poverty, remoteness, and teacher shortages further compound the problem. In many villages, children must travel long distances to attend school, a journey that becomes even more difficult during the monsoon season. The resulting physical and mental strain adds to language-related challenges, increasing dropout risks.
Reports from the Rangamati district education office show that many government primary schools continue to operate with vacant teaching posts, with the situation most acute in remote upazilas such as Rajasthali.
Officials have previously acknowledged that more than 170 government primary schools were operating without permanent headmasters, while nearly 200 assistant teacher posts remained vacant. In some schools, only one or two teachers manage multiple grades in a single classroom, severely undermining teaching quality.
In Rajasthali, these shortages directly affect classroom instruction and student supervision. A local primary school teacher said: “When there are not enough teachers, we cannot give proper attention to weak students. Indigenous children, who already struggle with Bangla and English, fall behind very quickly.”
The crisis has worsened due to delays in recruitment. A scheduled assistant teacher recruitment exam in November 2025 was suspended amid protests over quota allocation and transparency, prolonging vacancies nationwide. Local jobseekers even staged hartals, demanding fair recruitment and clear vacancy information.
Nationally, the scale of the shortage is stark: more than 34,000 head teacher posts and over 24,000 assistant teacher positions remain vacant. This highlights the severity of challenges faced by remote regions like Rajasthali, where educational inequality is deepened by systemic neglect.
Research by UNESCO and UNICEF shows that when a child’s primary education does not begin in their mother tongue, learning foundations weaken and dropout risks increase.
Although the National Education Policy 2010 recognises mother tongue–based education for indigenous children, implementation in Rajasthali remains limited. Some primary schools have supplementary materials in indigenous languages, but trained teachers are scarce. At the secondary level, instruction is entirely Bangla- and English-based.
Prof Sultan Ahmed of the Institute of Modern Languages at the University of Dhaka said: “Education for indigenous children is not just about textbooks. It concerns identity, future prospects, and equal citizenship. Running primary education without the mother tongue effectively excludes children from learning.”
He added that without mother tongue–based education, indigenous children fail to develop critical thinking and questioning skills. While national policy acknowledges this issue, weak implementation continues to drive high dropout rates and restrict access to higher education and employment.
“For a sustainable solution, separate education planning is essential for these regions,” he said. “Introducing mother tongue–based multilingual education at the primary level, recruiting local language-speaking teachers, and gradually integrating Bangla and English can prevent indigenous children from being excluded from education.”
