Less than 15pc schools have Shaheed Minars

The Shaheed Minar is a symbol of Bangladeshis' love for their mother tongue and the struggle they endured for the language. It imbues the love for language in younger generations who did not witness the language movement of 1952.

To keep young Bangladeshis informed on the country's heritage, language and history, educational institutions should construct the memorial in their compounds so that students can pay their respect to language martyrs.

However, in the district of Barishal, most government primary schools have no Shaheed Minar due to a lack of government initiative.

According to officials, less than 15 percent of such institutions have Shaheed Minar.

The record from Barishal District Primary Education Office says out of 1,593 government primary schools, only 225 have a Shaheed Minar. There is no Shaheed Minar at schools in Mehendiganj upazila.

Students are eager to have the memorial on their campuses.

Mim, a fourth-grader at Mukul Smriti Government Primary School in Sadar upazila, said, "We can't place wreaths on February 21 as there is no Shaheed Minar at our school."

Many schools have been setting up makeshift Shaheed Minars on the occasion of International Mother Language Day.

Mintu Kumar Kar, headmaster of Barishal Matrimandir Government Primary School, said they usually observe the day by making a Shaheed Minar with bamboo and paper. "Many schools use banana trees and leaves," he added.

Stressing the need for government initiative, Dasgupta Ashish Kumar, advisor of Barisal Regional Teachers' Association, said, "Seventy-five percent of the government primary schools in the district have no Shaheed Minar."

District Primary Education Officer Abdul Latif Majumder said there is no separate budget allocation for Shaheed Minar at schools. "It is usually built with local initiative," he said.

Sharif Jamaluddin, executive engineer of Local Government Engineering Department in Barishal, said they usually build educational institutions, and sculptures or murals on the campuses.

Jahangir Alam, executive engineer of Education Engineering Department, Barishal, said a specific project for Shaheed Minar can be taken if the funds come in from the revenue sector.

Turning to another option, he said if local lawmakers come forward with the fund allocated to them for development activities, Shaheed Minar construction can be ensured at all schools.

In this regard, Pankaj Nath, MP from Barishal-4 constituency, said he will try to construct Shaheed Minar at primary schools by including the issue in rural infrastructure construction project or any other projects. "I didn't know that no government primary school in Mehendiganj has Shaheed Minar," he said.

Talking to The Daily Star, Mohiuddin Ahamed Bir Protik, a freedom fighter in Barishal city; Syed Dulal, former president of Barishal Sangskritik Sangathan Samannaya Parishad; and Imanul Hakim, former principal of Government BM College, expressed their hopefulness that the government would took the issue into consideration.