Assam government to make Assamese a mandatory subject up to class 10

GUWAHATI: The BJP-led Assam government has decided to make Assamese a mandatory subject up to class 10 in all the schools, while providing options for linguistic minorities in certain areas.

State Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that a legislation making Assamese mandatory in schools will be introduced in the state assembly in August.

“In the Barak Valley, students can opt for Bengali, and in areas dominated by the Bodo community, the Bodo language can be opted,” Sarma said.

“The new legislation will also make the subject mandatory in all schools, including those under the Central Board of Secondary Education ( CBSE), and the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan (KVS).”

According to the state government, the move is in line with law adopted by Kerala and Karnataka.

“We are bringing the copy of the legislation in Kerala and Karnataka. We are going to place the legislation before the House in the August session of the state assembly this year,” said the minister.

Separately, the Union Human Resources Development Ministry has relaxed the norms of having B. Ed (Bachelor of Elementary Education) or D. EL.ED (Diploma in Elementary Education) qualification as mandatory for appointment of teachers in Lower Primary and upper Primary schools.

The minister said, “After we came to power, we made the request to the Central Government and it has made a special relaxation for Assam. The Central Government, after considering our appeal, has decided to relax the norm.”

Sarma said that there are 14,331 posts of teacher vacant in LP and UP schools, and that there are close to 19,000 TET qualified candidates waiting to be appointed.

“We will soon start the recruitment process. Assam has around 4,000 single teacher schools, and the strength of teachers in these schools will be increased,” he said.