State Of Indigenous Cultural Practices And Role Of School Curriculum: A Case Study Of The Garo Community In Bangladesh

Abstract

The central purpose of this  research paper is to explore the nature and underlaying reasons of the decaying cultural practices of the Garo community, a South Asian indigenous group inhabiting in Bangladesh for decades. The leading research question is: ‘What are the elements of the Garo’s culture in danger and why?’. The Garos have their century long own distinctive language, food habits, dress patterns, and also religion, which is, in many respects, different from the mainstream Bengali cultural practices. Garo language- Achchik Katha, traditional Garo religion- Sangsarek, traditional dress and ornament pattern, food and drink pattern, and nature of being matriarchal and matrilocal in family- are the cornerstones of the Garo culture. However, study unearths that all these traditional and cultural elements and practices of Garo are on the verge of extinction. Children and youths of the new generation know very little about their own culture and, as a consequence, there is a growing tendency among them to be assimilated into the mainstream lifestyles. For many, school curriculum- medium of instruction, contents, pictures, textbooks, background of teachers, language of textbooks- is thought to be one of the major factors behind this cultural loss. The schools, where most of the Garo children attend, are no different from the mainstream schools in any respect; predominance of the Bengali traits and rhetorics is ubiquitous in every component of the curriculum. Contents relating to the Garo or any other indigenuous groups are too little to represent these groups of people. In addition, the predominance of the mainstream culture and conversations in the media, literature and entertainment industry, as many Garo people opined, is playing a significant role in the decay of the Garo culture. In other words, the hegemony of the Bengali culture in every sphere of life has made it difficult for all other indigenuous cultural elements to survive. Whatsoever, in order to cease any further disappearance of the cultural norms, study suggests, contexual curriculum needs to be introduced which will entail language of certain textbooks and instruction in Garo language, with a particular focus on the religious, historical, traditional and cultural aspects of the community. Establishing a museum exhibiting Garo history, tradion and culure will add some significant values to this effort, which will ensure smooth transfer of necessary knowledge to the newer generations of Garo children.  Furthermore, the extent of the representation and presence of the indigenuous groups need to be extended in the media, literature and entertainment industries, which will contribute to the enhancement of self esteem and confidence of the Garo children and youths. In doing this research, both qualitative and quantitative data were used from both primary and secondary sources. For primary data, in addition to the interview and FGD, the textbooks of the Primary and Junior Secondary grades have been throroughly studied.