Govt plans to introduce mixed medium schools
Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, Nov 18 – As part of its educational reforms, the State Government is planning to introduce the concept of mixed medium schools in the State. Besides, one regional language from among Assamese, Bodo and Bengali will also be made compulsory in all schools in the State.
Briefing the media today, Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the State Government was serious about bringing in the concept of mixed-medium schools in view of its advantages. He said that even though no concrete decision had been taken as yet, the matter was being discussed with educationists and related aspects looked into.
On making a regional language compulsory in all schools, the minister said that an Act would soon be passed in the Assembly to that effect. “The compulsory regional language would be either Assamese (Brahmaputra Valley), or Bodo (BTC area), or Bengali (Barak valley),” he said.
Asserting that the State Government had been able to address most of the problems plaguing the education sector, Sarma said that the coming recruitment of 50,000-odd teachers would entail an additional annual burden of Rs 3,600 crore on salary on the exchequer.
“The education sector is witnessing huge investments from the State Government. This could even slacken the pace of development on other fronts such as infrastructure and healthcare,” the minister said.
Sarma said that his aim was to bring the government-run schools at par with the private-run institutions so that the common people could get quality and affordable education.
“This we want to achieve through induction of the best of teachers and infrastructure in all government schools. I can assure you that the craze for private-run schools will diminish at least in the rural and semi-urban areas,” he added.
The minister revealed that 200 model schools on the lines of the Navodaya Vidyalaya would soon be set up across the State, with the first phase covering 87 blocks for which land had been allotted.
Each school would cost around Rs 5 crore, he added.
The State Government was also on the verge of introducing vocational courses such as IT-enabled services, hospitality, healthcare, retail, etc., in schools from Class IX onwards. “We will have a tie-up with reputed national institutions and a pilot project is on the anvil,” he said.
Source: Assam Tribune
