In my long teaching career, I never had the chance to teach fully in my mother tongue. While teaching in Bangla, I sometimes tried to explain lessons in my own language, but lack of training made it difficult. Now, with books available in the local ‘Usui’ language and the Social Accountability project planning audiobooks, children can study at home in both languages, helping to fill learning gaps.’’ Diamb Tripura, a local primary school teacher
In Lama Upazila of Bandarban District, children from the Tripura community have limited access to mother-tongue–based education, particularly at the pre-primary level. At just five years old, many children are required to adapt to a new language that is not their mother tongue. As a result, they depend almost entirely on schoolteachers, with little support available from family or community members who are also unfamiliar with the instructional language.
Although the Government of Bangladesh has been providing primary-level textbooks in the Kokborok language since 2017, these resources are not being effectively used in most schools. A key reason for this gap is the shortage of trained teachers capable of teaching in the Tripura mother tongue.
Despite the presence of three community-based non-profit schools in the area, there is no formal primary school within the three Tripura communities. Consequently, many Tripura children are unable to receive education in their native language. This has led to early learning challenges, including poor comprehension, low classroom participation, and increased dropout rates.
To address these challenges, the Youth for Policy Bandarban Committee, with support from the central team, conducted community-based research in the Lama area. The research revealed residents’ daily struggles and a limited awareness of education as a civic right. Based on these findings, a youth-led social accountability initiative was launched to raise awareness and advocate for inclusive education for Tripura children.
The initiative aims to strengthen communication and accountability between community members and key stakeholders, including local leaders, service providers, and policymakers. It focuses on education, government services, and civic rights, ensuring that the voices of marginalised communities are heard in decision-making processes.
As part of this initiative, community volunteers will engage educated youth from the Tripura community as support teachers. These youth facilitators will use audio-visual learning content in the mother tongue to help children better understand lessons and regain interest in learning—creating a bridge between the community and the education system.
Gunga Tripura, Parent from Tripura community, shared his concern: “This is a very good initiative. Since children rarely receive education in their Tripura mother tongue, learning progress is slow. Many elders, including myself, are forgetting how to express things in our own language, and children are losing even basic vocabulary. I hope this initiative succeeds.”
Toipra Tripura, school student, also expressed their experience: “Because lessons are taught in Bangla at school, learning becomes somewhat difficult for us. When we learn in our mother tongue, we can learn faster and remember better. If we have an audiobook device, we will be able to use it to study easily at home after school, with the help of my mother.”
Community research conducted under the Social Accountability framework found a clear gap between education delivery and actual learning outcomes. Through youth leadership, community participation, and engagement with duty-bearers, this initiative seeks to make education more inclusive, responsive, and accountable to the needs of Tripura children.