Make Assamese compulsory in Kendriya Vidyalayas: KVGA

Guardians keep legal course option open if demands are not met

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: The guardians’ association of Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) has raised the demand for making the Assamese language a compulsory subject in the CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) curriculum in the State. It has also raised the demand for a summer vacation in Kendriya Vidyalayas of Assam in June-July.

Addressing a press conference at Guwahati Press Club on Sunday, Kendriya Vidyalaya Guardians’ Association (KVGA) president Bedabrata Bora and general secretary Ramen Das and a few other leaders of the body said that the association has been continuously raising the twin demand. They did send memorandums to the Chief Minister, the Union Minister of Human Resource Development and many MPs of the State regarding the inclusion of the Assamese language as a compulsory subject in KVs and to announce summer vacation of KVs in Assam in June-July. The association demanded that the Assamese language must be included from primary classes to higher classes and that examinations must be held for the same.

Bedabrat Bora said, “Our first demand is to include Assamese as a compulsory subject, especially in the KVs of the Brahmaputra Valley. Though Assamese is taught in the KVs, yet it is taught only from Class VI that too is irregularly, and examinations are also not conducted. Hence our demand is to make Assamese a compulsory subject, besides announcing summer vacation in sync with the SEBA (Board of Secondary Education, Assam) by keeping in mind the climatic situation of Assam.”

The guardians’ association claimed, “Though students can learn the language by giving application to the school authority, but there’s no seriousness as examinations are not held. A three-language formula has already been devised years before that talk about teaching of the mother tongue. But in Assam we’ve witnessed that the three-language formula has been followed by most of the schools except KVs.”

The guardians of KV students further lamented that being guardians they feel helpless that their children don’t have command over their own mother tongue. They said that besides the initiative of the authority and government there is the need for people’s initiative to reach the goal and that it is really very necessary for safeguarding the language as in recent times it has been seen that Assamese is taught in many private English medium schools too.

The Association said that theirs is a possibility that one of their demands to announce summer vacation in the month of June-July may be fulfilled soon. However, in case of making Assamese as compulsory subject, the guardians have already followed all the legal procedures.

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