Students of private schools & KVs oppose Dispur’s move to make learning Assamese compulsory

Students of private schools & KVs oppose Dispur’s move to make learning Assamese compulsory

ASSAMESE LEARNING COMPULSORY FOR GOVERNMENT JOBS

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: The majority of students studying in private English medium schools and Kendriya Vidyalayas have opposed Dispur’s move to make learning of Assamese compulsory to get government jobs in the State.

State Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced recently that the Assam Government would introduce a Bill in the coming Assembly to make Assamese a compulsory subject in Class X and that those not having studied Assamese as one of the subjects in Class X or matriculation exams would be ineligible for government jobs in the State.

“We are very much interested in learning Assamese to read and write the language perfectly. But making the language mandatory for learning till Class X is nothing but a Tughlaqi decision. In this age of cut-throat competition, students cannot take the additional burden of a language subject. Make Assamese as a compulsory subject till Class-VII and not beyond that,” Madhurjya Bhuyan, a Class-X student studying in a leading private school here, said.

Madhurjya said the government’s decision has made him restless and depressed about his career. “I am not studying Assamese in Class-IX and X. I am good at my studies. Will I not be eligible for government jobs?” he posed.

A student of Class-X at Kendriya Vidyalaya, Khanapara here said he can read and write Assamese accurately. “But Kendriya Vidyalaya syllabus does not include Assamese in Class-X. Does this make one ineligible for government jobs? It is an unfair decision. The move will deprive many meritorious students from getting jobs,” he added. Tridip Mahanta, whose daughter is studying in a leading English-medium school, alleged that “the State Government’s decision is nothing but to corner the ongoing anti-CAA movement at the cost of students’ future career”.

The government has also decided to make Assamese a compulsory subject in all the schools of the State except the Barak Valley, Bodoland and the two hill districts. It will move the Centre to amend the Constitution to retain Assamese as the State language forever, except in the Barak Valley, the Bodoland Territorial Council and the two hill districts administered by the autonomous councils under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution of India.

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