Indigenous languages in Bangladesh

Since 2003, UNDP has been working to help the people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts meet their immediate development needs and create long-term opportunities. This effort includes the creation of an education programme that aims to strengthen primary and secondary education within the Chittagong Hill Tract community
In December 2009, with funding from the European Union, the programme began a new phase that is focusing on making education relevant and accessible to young people. This initiative has resulted in the introduction of multilingual education into 150 schools in the region.
Multilingual education allows teachers to gradually introduce the official language of Bengali, so that towards the end of primary school students can switch completely to the national curriculum, with Bengali as the main language of instruction.
This approach is delivering tangible results in a region where low school enrolment and high dropout rates have been a problem for years. The change is being felt by all.
Around the world, indigenous peoples contribute to humanity's cultural diversity, enriching it with more than two thirds of its languages and an extraordinary amount of its traditional knowledge. Programmes such as the one in the Chittagong Hill Tract community in Bangladesh help keep such languages and traditions alive. Of the some 7,000 languages today, it is estimated that more than 4,000 are spoken by indigenous peoples. Language specialists predict that up to 90 percent of the worlds languages are likely to become extinct—or threatened with extinction—by the end of the century.

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[AtheistSweden]

At the time of the partition of India in August, 1947 non MusIims constituted 98.5% of the population of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, now it is merely 50%, talk about Muslim colonization! The area of CHT should have gained independence from Bangladesh, just like Bangladesh itself! But hey, it is never too late; FREE CHITTAGONG HILL TRACTS!!!