AAHSSTEU demands to provincialize Higher Secondary schools

A CORRESPONDENT

LAKHIMPUR: The All Assam Higher Secondary Sub-Teachers and Employees' Union (AAHSSTEU) has demanded the provincialization of the eligible non-provincialized Higher Secondary Schools at per the Assam Education (Provincialization of Services of Teachers and Reorganization of Educational Institutions) Act, 2017. Otherwise, the organization has threatened to initiate agitation programme soon.

In a press communiqué, Sumanta Sut, the secretary of the organization, expressed strong apprehension that more than 100 such HS Schools were at the point of missing the chance of being provincialized. "The non-provincialized HS schools came into being in the State as a result of the public-initiated steps to turn the high schools to HS schools. In the meantime, the subject teachers of these HS schools, appointed by the school management committees, have passed a period of 20 to 25 years shaping and teaching the students year after year. Realizing the miserable plight of these teachers, though the State Government has taken attempt to provincialize these schools on the basis of their eligibility, more than 100 such institutions are going to miss the chance of being provincialized due to some misunderstanding," stated the press communiqué.

Notably, the Assam Higher Secondary Education Council submitted the feasibility report to the State Government during the regime of the Congress-led government in order to upgrade the high schools to HS schools. Then the Education Department of the State conducted the inspection of the high schools through the district authority and accorded permission to the eligible schools for the same. The government accorded such permission to a lot of HS schools in 2005 for the last time.

In the press communiqué, the secretary of the organization said that though the schools concerned prayed for permission for Higher Secondary First Year Class, the Joint Director of the Assam Higher Secondary Education Council, J Dutta already issued a letter saying that the permission would not be granted until and unless the schools were provincialized.

Under such circumstances, the organization said that the attempt of depriving more than hundred schools of their due right by the high-powered committee without considering the genuine grounds under the provisions of the Assam Education (Provincialization of Teachers and Reorganization of Educational Institutions) Act, 2017, was not reasonable as they had already possessed government permission for the Higher Secondary First Year Class according to the Act. So, the organization demanded the government to provincialize the eligible posts of the subject teachers and the HS schools concerned or to face agitation.