Nekhre Academy is a multilingual learning platform for indigenous communities in CHT, Bangladesh.

Chittagong Hill Tracts, a southeastern part of Bangladesh which is enriched with cultural and lingual diversity where more than 11 indigenous communities( Mro, Khiyang, Bawm, Tripura, Marma, Chakma, Tangchangya, Lushai, Pankhuwa, Chak, Khumi) coexist. The total population of that area is approximately 1.3 million. Among whom approximately 200 thousands are students. Unfortunately these indigenous communities are deprived of basic facilities such as education, health, transportation etc. Here in this area 11 indigenous communities who have their own distinct languages but they all have to study from their childhood in another language, Bangla, the only state language. As these indigenous students are not accustomed to this language, they face a crucial challenge during their classes. This problem is common to all communities whose language is not Bangla. Therefore they can not understand the academic topics and then they lose their interest in learning and got demotivated to study. This problem is so severe to us that, according to a report, students dropped out rate in Bangladesh is highest in this region. Literacy rate is also very low there. Govt tried to include 5 indigenous language( 3 from CHT) but this is up to only grade 3. This project also failed due to not having adequate qualified language teachers.

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There is also no adequate number of academic infrastructure, qualified teachers and other facilities. 

As the indigenous students of Chittagong Hill Tracts have the language barrier, we are trying to break down the problem conducting online classes(recorded + live classes) about their academic topics in their own languages.

We have 11 different lingual community and it is almost impossible to design and implement for each community individually in such a small region but we can build a virtual platform which will serve our core purpose. So we developed a website named nekhreacademy.com which will help us to break down the language barrier to a certain degree. 

It mainly focusses on high school level students as the drop out rate is high at that level. As there are 11 different lingual students, we are trying to  conduct and record the classes in different languages so that they can easily understand(relate) and enjoy their learnings. 

We have formed a tutor panel with the dedicated students who are studying and some are graduated from various renowned universities in Bangladesh and actively volunteering with our Nekhre Academy. We also have an advisory panel formed by the professor and scholars at different universities.

We have already recorded classes in  different languages( 3 language is covered, other languages are in progress to connect) and shared this at Nekhre's website(nekreacademy.com) to access the classes. 

We have made a network with various organizations(religious, cultural, educational etc. ) in CHT so that we can work collaboratively. 

Once we are able reach to the targeted students, we will also conduct live classes and discuss the solution of their problems. Arranging different competitions on online or physically at different places.

Those students who reside in religious and other hostels who don't have smart devices, we will build dedicated multimedia room to access our resources.

We are actually trying to build up a learning friendly environment that remove the fear towards education among the students.

We are targeting the high school level indigenous students in Chittagong Hill Tracts(CHT), Bangladesh as drop out rate is maximum at this level. Then extend our activities to college level students.

At CHT region, there are several challenges for the indigenous students. They have language barrier(where 11 individual community coexist in a small area), lake of required resources, infrastructure, skillful teachers etc. 

To mitigate such huge problems, it is quite challenging. We saw, technology can play a great rule in this. Building a virtual platform that addresses the problems and give us a solution. 

Conducting the classes in our languages, record them, share at our website. We would have a network with different stakeholders(students, hostels, religious and cultural institutes). 

There will have the system where the students can contact with the teachers and share their problems.

In summery, Nekhre Academy will serve as a obvious supporting tool for the indigenous students who suffer from so many difficulties(limitations) that hinder their academic life. 

Our Nekhre Academy members working with our initiative are from different indigenous communities studying at different renowned universities and most of us grew up facing these challenges( language barrier, infrastructure, qualified teacher, necessary resources etc). So we are fully determined and have the motivation to work with these problems and creating an supporting tool for our younger generation so that they won't have to face it again and hinder their studies.

It is an interesting fact that it is a platform where volunteers from communities working together in a place, trying to solve the problems, integrate our thoughts and execute it. It has a cultural diversity among us. We are trying include all the indigenous communities in CHT and prioritizing those who are most marginalized among us. So from social inclusion perspective, it is a perfect place for us. Besides only our academic related problems we also focus on the socio-economic problems in CHT. 

We have also such members who are the first generation from their community who are higher studying now. 

Before starting this initiative, we visited our different institutions( academic, religious, cultural etc.), talked with the students, local teachers, representatives of different communities, social leaders and tried to find out the core factors behind the bars to education.

So we designed the team where we would have a social inclusion, have diversity, gender balance, prioritize the most marginalized communities, connection with different stakeholders. Also guiding the mentors to include such examples that relates our roots so that the leaners can easily connect themselves with the learning not violating social ethics.

We are also focusing on the preservation of our endangered languages. In the era globalization, it is quite challenging to preserve our beloved mother languages. Already we lost some languages in CHT. We want to create such a learning friendly environment where our students feel interested to be involved. 

We are trying arrange

In summery, we want to solve our problems by us using the knowledge that we gained so far.

Religious institutions and community based social organizations have a great rule and impact on the life of of these indigenous communities

We formed a dedicated team consisting of university students from different institutions and different communities.

We have talked with students and representatives of civil society, visited several places and institutions, conducted some classes and took feedback from them whether students can relate with the idea that they will learn by their language through online. We got positive response from both students and the authority. 

we could connect with 3 indigenous community among 11.

During the vacation, we distributed leaflet at some areas about Nekhre Academy. What is it, how to access it etc.

We still could not reach to majority of students as most of them are accustomed to online study.

Those who watched our contents, they interacted with us and wished for more contents on other topics and subjects.

First of all, we have  financial issues to continue and explore our activities. But more than that, we expect to get some guidance, technological support, increase efficiency of our programme , integrating the idea with MIT scholars, become familiar with MIT scholar thoughts, also connect with other SOLVE appliers who are submitting their innovative ideas and gaining knowledge from them.

Bangladesh has only one state language and all the national curriculum books are written and taught in Bangla.

Instructors: 40 

Editor: 3

Office management: 5

Advisor and Supporting Members: 07

Zone representatives: 20 

It started during the corona pandemic with only one community Marma. Gradually it included other communities like Chakma, Tripura, Tanchangya, Mro. Now itz journey is almost 2.5 years.

Our Nekhre Academy works on the education field for the 11 indigenous communities in Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh. These 11 individual communities have their own language, culture, tradition, history and customary values. We have almost all community representatives in our team and always prioritize those who are the most marginalized. 

In our team, more than 50% are female members who are truly motivated and dedicated to our initiative.

Our initiative ensures the friendly environment for all members irrespective of their identity (ethnicity, designation etc. ) and  we respect the diversity of jati dhormo borno vasha(ektu thik kore diyen)

Our Primary Goals:

• First of all it is a non profit model
• to make familiar with technology 
• ensure quality and language based education 
• reduce dropped out rate 

Next Goal:

If we can reach properly to our targeted consumers or stakeholders then we can start a subscription plan for our sustainability purpose.

Collaborate with different telecommunication operators to provide data package at comparatively low prices.

Our main target is not becoming financially profited, rather to targeting to ensure and continue our primary goals.

Our resources are online based.