Mother Tongue-based Literacy Programmes: Case Studies of Good ...

Awareness Creation and Opinion FormationThe ARP, with its prime task of developing literacy materials in MT, is also engaged in spreading themessage about the importance of mother tongue-based education. ASHRAI hopes that policy makerswill adjust policy formulation and resource allocation, accordingly.Towards this aim, ARP organized a “Regional Workshop for Popularizing MT Education” in Rajshahi Cityon August 19, 2006. The workshop was attended by the Deputy Director of the Department of SocialWelfare, the District Education Officer, the Upa-zila Education Officer, and instructors from teachers’training institutes. Attendees also included the elite of the city and media professionals. A large numberof indigenous people from all over the district participated and spoke at the workshop.It is a matter of pleasure for ARP staff that many distinguished visitors from home and abroad havevisited the ARP schools:Sl. Organization Name of the Team Member Period01 NETZ-German Mr. Nicko Rickter and his team 27.10.200402 RDRS-Bangladesh Mr.Afser Ali and his team 24.11.2004Mr. Ramo Gautchi, DG of SDC03 SDC04 UNESCO-DhakaMr. Markus Wald Vogel,Country Director of Bangladesh & their teamMr. Wolfgang VollmannUNESCO Representative in Bangladesh, Mr Golam Kibria & Ms.Shahida PO UNESCO Bangladesh03.12.200407.12.2004Cost-Effectiveness of the ProjectAs was stated earlier, the ARP research team involved community people directly in developing coursecurriculum and education materials. This included leaders and educated community members whocontributed writings in Sadri. Moreover, tribal staff working in ASHRAI’s training unit also wrote texts ondifferent topics. The community members were very motivated and accepted the writing assignmentsas their own. During the materials development phase, writers and research team members would sittogether at the school premises of a tribal village to share, review and receive feedback from each otheron weekly holidays (Fridays). For these sessions, the research team spent a very minimal amount ofmoney, which covered the cost of snacks and lunch for the participants. Organizers noted the enthusiasmof the participants, despite the often routine nature of the work. It is worth mentioning that a nonliteratecommunity person named Mr. Lalmohon Minj was inspired and wanted to contribute. He wasencouraged by the research team, and took up the issue of Haria drinking (a big problem for the Adivasicommunities). He prepared a short play to create awareness about the harmful effects of Haria. His shortplay (drama) was then transformed into written form in Sadri. After editing by a resource person, it wasprinted and published in Sadri. Now this drama is played by the children of the ARP in cultural functionson the occasion of festivals and other ceremonies.Thanks to community participation, too, the research team was able to prepare a word book of 900 Sadriwords with both Bangal and English definitions. The book was published, and has since been translatedinto IPA .[ 48 ]