Candidate No- 129971
Post-conflict education reconstruction in Bangladesh: Peace-Building in Chittagong Hill Tracts
Sefut-E-Shan
Candidate No: 129971
Final Research Project for
MA in International Education and Development
University of Sussex
27 August 2015
Declaration: I hereby declare, this is an original piece of work, which is free from plagiarism.
The intellectual property of this paper entirely belongs to the author.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgement
Abstract
List of Abbreviations
List of Tables, Figures and Appendices
1. Introduction
1.1Background of the study
1.2Definition of terms
1.3Summary of the study
2. Country Context
2.1Demography and history of conflict
2.2The Education system of Bangladesh
3. Literature review
3.1Education, inequality and conflict
3.2Education and peace-building
3.3Language, ethnicity and peace-building
4. Methodology
4.1Study introduction and research aim:
4.2Research questions
4.3Research Method
4.4Sampling Procedure
4.5Data collection tools
4.6Data collection procedure
4.7Framework of Analysis
4.8Research issues
4.8.1Ethical considerations
4.8.2Limitations, conceptual issues and bias
Limitations:
Conceptual issues:
Bias:
5. Results and Findings
5.1Results
5.2Findings
6. Discussion
7. Conclusion:
8. Reference
9. Appendices
Acknowledgement
I wish to acknowledge the contribution of my supervisor Colleen McLaughlin for her guidance throughout the challenging process of this postgraduate research. Every time she helped me with her valuable knowledge and observation, which directed me towards my ultimate research aim.
I would also like to convey my most profound gratitude to Mario Novelli for sharing his valuable insight and critical feedback on this study topic and research methodology. His precious thoughts and directions helped me to develop a comprehensive concept on my topic.
I cannot be thankful enough to Nigel Marshall for sharing his critical view and expertise on research skills. He has been a great support throughout the project particularly in shaping the methodology.
The heartiest thanks to Mr. Deba Priya Chakma for his cordial support in conceptualizing the context. Special thanks to Mohammad Murtaz Hossain for being an immense support throughout the journey.
Most importantly, my deepest acknowledgement to the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission for their immense support during my study at the University of Sussex. Without their support and help, it would be so difficult for me to avail the course.
Last but not the least, I am thankful to my family members and friends for being so supportive throughout my University of Sussex life.
Abstract
In the year 1997, Bangladesh government signed a peace accord with the indigenous people of CHTs which included some educational components to ensure their right to education. This empirical study is an effort to get an insight of the contribution of the education system of Bangladesh in the peace-building process, after 18 years of signing the peace accord. This study employed two types of data collection tools- document analysis and semi-structured interview schedule in order to reach the depth of the context by comparing the government and indigenous community-produced documents and the educators view on those documents and their implication in practice. This study ended up exploring four dimensions of the education and peace-building dynamics, those are, Multilingual Education, Recognition, Lack of Resources and Collaboration. These themes indicate the concerns around the context as well as the government initiative and limitations in respect of materializing the policies into practice.
Key words:Inequality, Peace-building, Multilingual education, Education policy, Bangladesh.
List of Abbreviations
CHT Chittagong Hill Tracts
EFA Education for All
GoB Government of Bangladesh
HDCHill District Councils
INEE Interagency Network on Education in Emergencies
MDG Millennium Development Goals
MLE Multilingual Education
NCTB National Curriculum and Textbook Board
UNESCO United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund
List of Tables, Figures and Appendices
Tables & Figures
Figure 1: INEE Minimum Standards of Education
Figure 2: Two faces of education
Figure 3: Codes Were Used To Highlight Suitable Data
Appendices
Appendix 1: Consent Form and participant Information Sheet...... 65
Appendix 2: Semi-structured interview guideline...... 68
Appendix 3: Interview Transcript-1...... 69
Appendix 4: Interview Transcript-2...... 72
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Candidate No- 129971
1. Introduction
1.1Background of the study
In December 1997, the Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord (commonly known as the Peace Accord) was signed between the Indigenous community and the government of Bangladesh, following 30 years of indigenous-majority intrastate conflict, mainly in the Chittagong Hill Tracts Area (CHTs). This accord included the following educationrelated term- “The activities of the Parishad (Parishad refers to Hill District Council that is the local authority of the CHTs) mentioned in number three will be added with the following: (1) Vocational education, (2) Primary education in mother tongue (3) Secondary education.” The Government of Bangladesh committed to fulfillingthese terms and also ratified Education for All, the Millennium Development Goals and the Rights of the Child 1989 (UNCRC)to ensure quality education for all children (Shanawez, 2012). However, the IWGIA (International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, 2014) reports that the formal education system does not recognize the value of traditional indigenous knowledge or lifestyles, a fact that indigenous people have complained about. Indigenous languagesare not used as languages of instruction,and their cultures are not reflected in the curriculum. As a result, the IWGIA notifiesthat some youths are facing the traumatic experience of losing their indigenous identity while also not being fully accepted as part of the dominant national society.
Former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that,“Education is quite simply peace-building by another name” (Dahir, 2015). The education system can be a significant mechanism to foster respect for the heterogeneous populace of multi-ethnic and multi-cultural countries like Bangladesh. Furthermore, in a conflict-affected society, a child must have the toolsto deal with conflict-related issues and participate in the peace process. Sustainable post-conflict recovery requires increasing the acceptability of the minority to theschools and also to the education system. In addition, curricula must fostera culture of tolerance, peace, and tolerance for diversities to maintain democracy in war-ravaged countries (Bush and Saltarelli, 2000; Smith, 2010). In Bangladesh, there are regular attacks on ethnic and religious minorities, which are indicative of the intolerance between religions, ethnicities, and cultures. Therefore, 18 years after the accord was signed, it is worth re-visiting educational reform as a peace-building method.
This study aims to explore education’s potential for peace-building in post-conflict societies, and focuses particularly on the Bangladeshi government’srole in dealing with this issue in the CHTs. The paper demonstrates how an education system can deprive a particular group of students based on language choicesand restrict their access to economic and political opportunities. In the CHTs,the education system has failed to assess the society’s post-conflict needs. Empirically, the study contributes to the conceptual area of education and peace-building in CHTs where few studies have been conducted.
1.2Definition of terms
Peace-building: the area of peace-building is vast the way it is very difficult to set up any boundary for this term. Galtung (1976, p.297, cited in UNESCO, 2011, p. 13) conceptualizes peace-building such way- it addresses the root causes of both the structural and cultural conflict that contributes to direct violence, in his words,
“…structures must be found that remove causes of wars and offer alternatives to war in situations where wars might occur” (1976, p. 297).
Besides, he emphasizes on local knowledge, ownership and participation as animportant element of peacebuilding. On the other hand, Lederach (1997) observes peace-building as a dynamic and social process that involved in transforming relationships.
… is understood as a comprehensive concept that encompasses, generates and sustains the full array of processes, approaches, and stages needed to transform conflict toward more sustainable, peaceful relationships. (p. 84-45)
1.3Summary of the study
In the later sections, Chapter 2 describes the background of the conflict, the Peace Accord, and the role of education as the country context. Chapter 3 reviews the components of education that are significant for peace-building, and illustrates how education has both perpetuated and suffered from the conflict. Chapter 4 clarifies the methodology and research questions in relation to the aims and objectives of this research. The research paradigm is also explained in this section, validating the research design and my subjective perspective as a researcher,along with the associated ethical issues and limitations. Chapter 5 presents the findings of the document analysis and interview schedules thematically, based on the research questions. Chapter 6discusses major four themes that emerge from the findings. Chapter 7summarises the study and suggests some future steps to be taken.
2. Country Context
2
2.1Demography and history of conflict
The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs) Area[1],comprising 10 percent of the country’s total land area, is situated in the south-eastern part of Bangladesh, and is exceptional both geographicallyand demographically. In contrast to the rest of the country, the CHTsarea is hilly and comprised predominantly of valleys and forests (Gain, 2000, p.1-41). This area is the homeland of some 700,000 indigenous people[2], coming from 12[3] major ethnic groups who are culturally and linguistically different from the majority Bengalee people. For example, they have their own religion, dress, and farming methods. In addition, variety exists within different indigenous groups as well. Based on their cultivation practices (locally known as Jum), these people are known as Jummas. Mentionable, Bengalee[4]are predominant of Bangladesh with some 98 percent of the total population and speaks ‘Bangla’.
Focusing on the main concern, it is not easy to analyse the causes of conflicts.As Reynal-Querol (2002, pp. 29-54) observes, all intrastate ethnic conflicts are different, characterized by different economic, political, and psychological factors (Fearon, 2004). The grievances and resentment of the CHTs area emerged under a history of oppression, injustice,destructive development,and denial of political, economic, land, and educational rights to the minorities. All of this was furtherinfluenced by the political ideologies of elites of majority Bangalee. While the partition of the subcontinent triggered the ethnic conflict, post-colonial and particularly post-independence regimes further degraded the situation towards insurgency. Moreover, inter-ethnic antagonism was another crucial factor,in order to gain control over resources that led them towards conflict (Shanawez, 2011).
The conflict in the CHTswas between tribal communities and the government of Bangladesh,and was influenced by the grievances that emerged over the colonial and post-colonial periods. Analysing this history is crucial to understand the risk factors that helped foster the conflict. Various laws directly or indirectly violated indigenous human rights and eventually led to the ‘pahari[5]-bangalee’ (indigenous-Bangalee) relationship of mistrust and volatility as-
“…deprivation from access to their own lands and resources, deprivation from exercising political, cultural, social, and religious rights and deprivation from leading a normal life without physical attacks, intimidation in the absence of freedom of speech and freedom of movement as well as systematic violations of rights to development, housing, minimum education and adequate health care.” (Shanawez, 2011, p.100)
The conflict emerged during the liberation war when the Chakma king, one of three kings in CHTsarea, allegedly supported the Pakistani army against the Bangalee (Mohsin, 1996, p. 1-26). Notably, Bangladeshi identity is based on the liberation war, which was even more strongly than it is by the Bangla language and Bangalee culture (Bangladesh, 2015), therefore, those who opposed the war were marked as opponents of ‘Bangalee Nationalism’. Presumably, because they opposed the war, this situation fostered hatred among the Bangalee against the hill tribe people. Subsequent government policies weredeveloped in the shadow of these issues. Then Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahaman was motivated to build a unique ‘Bengalee’ identity for the new country. This ‘Bengali’ ideology was centred by ‘Bangla’ language and culture, which excluded and refused to recognize the unique identity of the hill tribe people (Mohsin, 1996b, p.42; Ahsan and Chakma, 1989, p.967). As a result, then CHTs area representative in the Constituent Assembly M. N. Larma demanded regional autonomy in order to uphold their unique ethnic and cultural identity (HDRC, 2009, p.4). However, this demand was considered to be secessionist (Mohsin, 2000, p. 64) and was rejected wholly by the Assembly, which declared Bangladesh to be a “Uni-cultural" and “Uni-lingual” nation-state in Article 3 and 6 of the constitution, recognizing only ‘Bangla’ language and ‘Bengali’ culture. Consequently, the Jumma people were pressured to become ‘Bangalee’ (Shanawez, 2011). Under these circumstances, M.N. Larma introduced the first regional political party on March 7, 1972, named ‘Parbatya Chattagram Jana Shamhati Samiti’ (PCJSS, In English: United People’s Party of the Chittagong Hill Tracts).
After the fall of the socialist government in the year 1975, the military took power and banned all activities by PCJSS (Barnes et al. 1997). As a result, a massive conflict broke out and in 1976 Larmacreated an armed wing of PCJSS, named Shanti Bahini (Peace Force), to fight against the government in order to defend the CHTs area’s rights. Since, they had strong ethnic connections in some areas, particularly in Tripura (a state of India), the government responded with force and considered their moves to be guerrilla activity (Zaman, 1984, p. 314-315), influenced by India in the form of financial and armed support (Bashar, 2009, p.4). The government deployed a large number of battalions to theCHTsarea andwas responsible for frequent torture, detention, rape, killing, and forcible relocation of Jumma people (IDRC, n.d.). Data shows that in 1872, the population of indigenous and Bangaleein the area stood at 98 percent and 2 percent. By 2003, this had changed to 49 percentindigenous and 51 percent of Bangalee (Pandey and Jamil, 2009). This rapid shift occurred after Bangladesh’s independence in 1971andparticularlybecame intense from 1972-1973 and from 1981-1984. The Government sponsored Bangladeshi settlers to move there with land rights, cash, and rations. The government’s objective was to weaken the ethnic composition and dominance of the area (Bashar, 2011, p.3). This action severely dislocated Indigenous peoples, caused migration to neighbour countries andcreated major changes in the socio-economic structure of the CHTs area.
Moreover, the government has failed to provide quality education for the Jumma people. Instead, their right to education have been frequently disrupted. Many of the local schools were burned to set up army camps. Ironically, right after thedeclaration of Education for all (EFA), the government closed 12primary schools in Bandarban district, which led to student protests. In fact, when education became available, it was revealed that ‘it [was] designed to draw hill people into Bengali culture’ (Barnes et al. 1997, p. 12). Brown (2011) said, unequal access to education can create wide societal disparities and reinforce the political domination and segregation of ethnic groups. Consequently, when a large number of people are excluded from an education system, it results in unemployment, poverty, and grievances - a powerful recruiting ground for armed militias. Seemingly, unequal access to education was another instigator to the ethnic conflict according to Brown’s (2011) statement.
During the three decades of insurgency, every government undertook development projects, which failed to re-establish reliance and build trust between the indigenous and Bengalee community. In 1997, the CHT Accord (Peace Accord) was signed between the Awami League government and the Indigenous peoples’ political party PCJSS, which formally ended the civil war. In this Accord, the CHTsarea was described as a tribal-inhabitant region. The Accord also approved the administrative role of the Indigenous chiefs, their traditional governance system, and acknowledged the building blocks for regional autonomy (IWGIA, n.d.).
However, in Bangladesh, there are at least 3 million people that belong to one of some 54 indigenous groups, who are mainly situated in the north of the country and in the CHTs. However, these people were not recognisedas ‘Indigenous’ by Government of Bangladesh, rather they were acknowledged as ‘tribes’, ‘minor races’, and ‘ethnic sects and communities’ in a 2011 amendment to the Constitution. Moreover, the term ‘Adibashi’ (Indigenous or aboriginal in English) is used to define the term ‘Khudro Nrigoshthi’, which means ‘ethnic minorities’ in English. In addition, the ‘Small Ethnic Groups Cultural Institution Act 2010’ (IWGIA, 2015) addresses them as small ethnic groups (in Bengali ‘Khudro Nrigoshthi’). Furthermore, the 15th amendment to the Constitution classifies Jumma people as an ‘ethnic minority’and defines all Bangladeshi citizens as ‘Bengali’ (IDRC, n.d). This use of various and contradictory terms in different government enactments seems to demonstrate the government’s to be negligence in instituting the Peace Accord.
Furthermore, Amnesty International (2009) reports, that after the 18 years of signing, very few of the commitments implanted in practice, which was even with a very less impact on thefulfilment of the rights of indigenous people. Very recently, in 2014, the government of Bangladesh transferred some authority to the Hill District Council, namely over shifting cultivation; birth, death and other statistics; money lending businesses; local tourism; and secondary education. Additionally, the area’s traditional governance system got recognition. Nonetheless, Indigenous people still experienceworsening disparities based on their ethnic identity and religion. Ironically, the Awami League government was in power for four years following thesigning of the Accord, and for two consecutive since 2009. Each time, this government was led by Sheikh Hasina, daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahaman (the founder of Bangladesh). As the signing government, one might expect the Awami League to take significant action to replicate the policies into practice. In the Election Manifesto of 2008, for example, the party stated:
“The 1997 Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord will be fully implemented. More efforts will be directed toward the development of underdeveloped tribal areas, and special programmes on priority basis will be taken to secure their rights and to preserve their language, literature, culture, and unique lifestyles.” (Amnesty International, 2013, p.6)