Singphos for inclusion of dialect in schools

BORDUMSA, February 19: The 30,000-odd people belonging to the Singpho community spread over the Changlang and Lohit districts of Arunachal Pradesh are an aggrieved lot today over non-introduction of Singpho dialect at the school level. The community has taken umbrage at the apathy of the authorities concerned over the lack of provision for introducing the Singpho dialect in the schools especially in areas dominated by the community despite innumerable number of pleas made by the masses in this regard. Office-bearers of the Singpho Development Society told The Assam Tribune that the Roman script was adopted for the dialect way back in the days of the British rulers, but till date the government has failed to introduce it in the schools of the Singpho-dominated districts of Changlang and Lohit. The society president added that the dialect is taught in scores of schools in the Singpho areas of Yunan and Kunming of China and also in Japan. The society has also demanded that steps should be initiated to broadcast Singpho dialect programmes from the All India Radio (AIR) stations of Dibrugarh and Itanagar. The office-bearers of the society pointed out that they have been demanding this since the days when Arunachal Pradesh was known as Northeast Frontier Agency (NEFA).