Part II.pdf - MTB-MLE Network

literacy, this project was targeted at preservation of the language. A language can be preserved
only if it is used by the people. To use a language, one has to learn it.
During the course of the literacy campaign in Assam, it was observed that many illiterate people
were not coming forward to take part in the exercise. SRC Assam has to date produced reading
materials in Assamese, Bengali and Boro based on its participation in a workshop organized by
UNESCO on minority language material production, on research and on country experience. SIL
International was one of the participants.
There are many such minority language groups in Assam. SRC Assam has, therefore, decided to
prepare materials in a phased manner for these indigenous language groups in effort to eradicate
illiteracy.
SRC Assam has already taken up materials development in the Rabha language for propagation of
literacy in the state. Our experience has shown us that literacy is successful when the community
is a stakeholder in the campaign. This comes from a spirit of voluntarism and the community taking
ownership of the campaign. The present initiative is a step in this direction. The workshop will
be a success when the participants involve themselves in the literacy campaign. SIL International
and Gauhati University have also offered their academic support.
Community mobilization
The State Resource Centre has involved the
community in the research and field study.
There have been awareness meetings, and local
interaction with government officials and
school teachers.
Learning needs
There are nearly 200 spoken languages in the
northeast, some of which do not have a script of their own. In such cases, they have adopted
Devanagari, Roman or Assamese as their written script. Only a few languages, like Assamese and
Bengali, have their own script.
As there are many minority language groups in Assam without any reading materials in their language,
the SRC has decided to prepare materials in a phased manner for the minority language groups.
For the first project, the SRC has taken up the development of material in the Rabha language. In
this project, entitled “Action Research on Literacy through Indigenous Language,” SIL International
came forward to offer their academic support.
Developing writing systems
Since the language spoken by the Rabhas does not have a script of its own, any material production
will have to be done in some other script. The Rabha Literacy Society has also unanimously decided
to accept the Assamese script for the development of books. This is due to the fact that most of
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