The Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission called upon the prime minister to take immediate steps to nationalise 228 primary schools in the hills.
In a letter to the premier on Thursday, the commission said they had learnt that these schools were at risk of being closed down as they were yet to be brought under the nationalisation scheme, thanks to difficulties with land registration.

These schools, located in some remotest parts of Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban, give education to around 16,000 students and are run by the hill district councils.
"This will mean that 16,000 students, mostly from very remote areas in the three hill districts, will be left without any schooling," reads the letter.
Citing media reports, the commission said a decision was taken in an inter-ministerial meeting in February 2013 to nationalise these schools by considering them as “special”.
"This is a very practical and constructive way to ensure the continuation of these children's education. It is not clear why this consideration can no longer be made," said the commission in the letter, forwarded to different ministers and lawmakers concerned.
It further said it was not acceptable that students would be deprived of education because of a complexity in the land ownership issue.
Many of these students would have to travel long distances to enrol themselves into a school, many would have to leave their families and many would drop out, it added.
The commission also said Article 17 of the constitution ensures “establishing uniform, mass-oriented and universal system of education and extending free and compulsory education to all children” in order to remove illiteracy within a timeframe as determined by law.
"We sincerely hope that the Ministry of Education and the Directorate of Primary Education will take the necessary steps to ensure the continuation of education at these schools without any interruption and the schools will be nationalised at the earliest," the letter concluded.