AASU General Secretary opposes Govt move to shut down 'non performing' schools

Guwahati: All Assam Students' Union General Secretary Lurinjyoti Gogoi on Wednesday slammed the Assam Government's decision to close down 17 "non-performing schools" in the state that had recorded zero pass percentage in this year's HSLC (10th) exams.

Talking to The Sentinel Digital, the student leader said, "This is an embarrassing development, to say the least. There are several high ranking officials who are involved in the state, such a situation should not have come to pass. However, the students are not responsible for their failure. At a time when the education sector is becoming more and more student-centric where the problems of the students should be understood and remedied, none of them has been able to pass, which points towards failure on the part of the administration."

Gogoi further said that it is not feasible for students who used to study in those schools to immediately take admission in other schools at the direction of the Education department. "Students who live in those parts cannot travel 10 kilometres or so to avail education in other places for their study purposes. The people dwelling in the far-flung areas of Assam are not that well-off and financial constraints will further cripple their desire to avail education", he added.

The AASU leader further added that the student union would never accept this decision of the Government and would fight it tooth-and-nail. "There are various other problems plaguing the Education department of Assam. For instance, there are several venture schools that are yet to be provincialized, which is a major issue. They should be looking to remedy these situations. In regards to the non-performing schools, they should take other courses of action, such as changing the teachers or punishing the officials involved in running the school. However, I do not think it is just of the government to close down these schools completely and inconvenience the parents and students in the hinterland", Lurin fumed.

THE ASSAM GOVERNMENT'S CALL:

On Sunday, Assam Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told media in Guwahati that the Government has decided to close down 17 schools which have registered 0 pass percentage of marks this year. 

Sarma added that the teachers of these schools will be transferred to other schools across the State within 72 hours, while students would be allowed to take admissions in the nearest government school.

Meanwhile, this move has been met with an outcry in certain sections of society, and critics have claimed that such a move will affect the already-weakened school education system in Assam. CPI(M)'s State secretary Deben Bhattacharya, criticizing the move, said that that the Government should be focussing on improving the infrastructure of such schools and posting adequate teachers, instead.

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