[lg policy] India: All Assam Students=?windows-1252?Q?=92_?=Union plea for Assamese

[Harold Schiffman]

AASU plea for Assamese - Union submits demands to Gogoi

A STAFF REPORTER


Guwahati, Aug. 11: The All Assam Students’ Union today moved Dispur to
make Assamese a compulsory subject in all schools in the state,
including Kendriya Vidyalayas. Submitting representations on policies
and demands for improvement of education to chief minister Tarun Gogoi
and education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, the AASU said all
students, whether studying in government or private schools, must
learn Assamese as a subject.

AASU adviser Samujjal Bhattacharyya told reporters here that the
students’ organisation had asked the state government to come out with
a language policy for school and college education in the state.
Bhattacharyya said the policy must make Assamese a compulsory subject
for all schools situated in Assam, including the CBSE-affiliated
Kendriya Vidyalayas and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas, which now
function in English and Hindi.

He said in many other states of the country, the Kendriya Vidyalayas
had introduced vernacular languages, according to the rules of the
Union government. “It has been observed that while students from the
government schools learn both vernacular and English languages, their
counterparts in English medium and private schools do away with the
vernacular language. Such discrimination cannot be accepted. All
school students in the state must learn both Assamese and English with
equal importance,” Bhattacharyya said.

The students’ union has also demanded the government to appoint
quality teachers to enable vernacular medium students to have a strong
command over English. Bhattacharyya said though the government has
made it compulsory to learn English from Class I, it has not yet
appointed quality and adequate number of teachers for the purpose.

According to him, the representations submitted today highlighted 15
policies and 63 demands to bring about much desired changes and
improvement in the state education sector. Besides demanding that
educational institutions should be free from all political
interference, the AASU representations have sought a systematic
introduction of the pre-primary section to make primary education more
attractive and dynamic.

“The pre-primary section for the group between three and five years
should concentrate on textbook free education and healthy physical and
mental growth of children by introducing them to an educational
environment with total freedom. The pre-primary section must be
introduced in the line of kindergarten and nursery sections of English
medium schools,” Bhattacharyya said.

Opposing the sudden imposition of NCERT books at the primary level,
the students’ union told the chief minister and education minister
that literal translation of NCERT books must be avoided and textbooks
containing local history and geography should be introduced for
students.

He said the government must come out with strict regulations to
monitor the functioning of private schools in terms of fixing the
students’ fees and salary of teachers. Among other demands were the
introduction of a scientific and modern evaluation system by the Board
of Secondary Education, Assam, reintroduction of commerce as a subject
in SEBA curriculum, setting up of engineering college and law college
in every district and a one-time grant of Rs 100 crore to Gauhati
University and Dibrugarh University.

http://www.telegraphindia.com/1110812/jsp/frontpage/story_14370186.jsp

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