Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha is contemplating to introduce Roman script for Kokborok, a major tribal language in the state. The minister assured that his government will write to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) requesting the board to allow students to write Kokborok papers in Roman script. The chief minister of the state also hosts the education portfolio. The minister's decision came while replying to leader of opposition Animesh Debbarma's demand for introduction of Roman script for Kokborok.
Kokborok is the mother tongue of most of the tribes of the northeastern state. However, the language does not have its own script. Currently, Kokborok is taught in Bengali script in state government educational institutions, including 97 Vidyajyoti schools in which CBSE curriculum has been introduced.
The minister further added that around 5,000 students who have studied in various English medium schools are facing problems in the CBSE examinations as they did not learn Bengali.
Meanwhile, the government has already constituted a three-member committee led by former MLA Atul Debbarma to look into the matter of selection of script for Kokborok.
News agency PTI quoted Mr Saha as saying, "Let the committee submit its findings, then we will take a decision on the script for Kokborok. The state lacks books in Roman script as well as trained teachers for preparing questions and evaluating answers in the script."