96 schools to be closed in Assam, AAP says move of privatisation

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaMay 8, 2024

In a new move, the Assam government has decided to “permanently close” 96 newly provincialized schools after being shifted, which has been widely condemned by the Aam Admi Party (AAP) Assam.

A communiqué issued by the state directorate of secondary education DSE-17011/10/2021PLAN dated April 26, stated that 510 schools were provincialized in the year 2021 as per “Assam Education Provincialization of Services of Teachers and Re-organisation of Educational Institutions Act 2017” as amended in 2018. Out of these 510 schools, 38 are under BTR (Bodoland Territorial Region), and the remaining 472 are under plain districts, Karbi-Anglong, and Dima Hasao.

The letter further said that out of 472 schools, 366 are declared ‘self-base’ schools and 96 schools have shifted to their respective ‘base’ schools. 

The 96 schools, in view of their being shifted to their respective base schools, are being ‘permanently closed’.

The teaching and non-teaching staff of the 366 Self Base schools, whose services were provincialized in 2021, are only allowed to work in their respective Self Base schools.

According to the order, no incumbent whose services were not provincialized will be allowed to continue to work in the self-base schools. The fate of the teaching and non-teaching staff at the 96 shifted schools now hangs in the balance, as the same criterion will be followed in their case too.

Of the 366 self-based schools, there are 156 high schools, 121 senior secondary schools, and 89 higher secondary schools. 

Of 96 schools to be closed down, there are 79 high schools and 17 senior secondary schools.

Of them, 11 schools are located in in Barpeta district, 9 in Bongaigaon, 2 in Darrang, 19 in Dhemaji, 7 in Dhubri, 3 in Goalpara, 2 in Golaghat, 1 in Hailakandi, 3 in Jorhat, 1 in Jorhat/Majuli, 2 in Kamrup (Metro), 8 in Kamrup, 1 each in Karbi Anglong and Karimganj, 11 in Lakhimpur, 3 in Morigaon, 1 in Nagaon, 2 in Nalbari, 4 in Sivasagar, 1 in Sonitpur, 3 in South Salmara-Mankachar, and 1 school is located in Tinsukia district.

Reacting sharply to the decision of the Assam education department, AAP Assam president Bhaven Choudhury said it is a move to privatization of government schools.

“While the entire education mission is spending hundreds of crores of rupees in the name of building infrastructure in educational institutions in the state, the Assam government has ordered the closure of 96 government schools under various pretexts They have committed the toggle act of doing it,” Choudhury said

Choudhury alleged that chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and education minister Ranoj Pegu have pushed the public education system to the brink of destruction. 

Earlier, the government arbitrarily closed down 8,066 schools on the pretext of lack of infrastructure or not enough students, he said.

“The state government has not been able to provincialise any new school. They have not responded to the agitations of venture school teachers. We have been demanding improvement of infrastructure and quality of education in public sector institutions in the state but the government has not paid any attention to us. Once, the entire education system in the state was run through public sector schools. Assam’s educational standards are far behind the all-India level as well as other states,” he said.

“The government has closed down one institution after another in the name of merger based on the enrolment and results. They have already closed 8,066 public sector schools. The history of each society is involved behind the mother tongue government schools which have been established based on the contributions of many people. The government has no right to close these schools,” he added.