SAMIR CHAKMA Vs. STATE OF TRIPURA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This petition in the nature of Public Interest Litigation has been filed by an individual. He has taken up the cause of a tribal community of the State of Tripura called Chakma. His main grievance is that in the State there are no schools available for children belonging to the said community where their mother tongue is a medium of instruction. The petitioner would point out that the State Government run schools do offer to teach Chakma language as an additional subject, which is compulsory for all native students of Chakma community, however, there is not a single school in the State; Government or private which even up to the primary level, imparts education in Chakma language.

(2.) Learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that students of this community as it is have limited opportunities and find it extremely difficult to learn various subjects in languages such as Bengali and English which are not their mother tongue. He submitted that by now it is proved and universally accepted that a child is able to grasp basic education in all subjects when it is imparted in his mother tongue. Counsel relied on a private report based on a private survey conducted by the petitioner to contend that the existing facilities in various Government schools for teaching Chakma as a subject are inadequate.

(3.) Learned Advocate General, on the other hand, opposed the petition contending that it may not be feasible to start a dedicated school where medium of instruction would be exclusively Chakma language. He pointed out the relative population figures of the State and its different communities recorded in the census of 2011 and submitted that it would be ultimately for the Government to consider the feasibility of starting any such school.