ABSU to stage sit-in demonstration on Jan 8 demanding action on bodo educational issues

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOKRAJHAR: The All-Bodo Students Union (ABSU) has announced a statewide sit-in demonstration on January 8 demanding immediate solution to long-pending educational issues of the Bodo medium in a decisive way and to highlight the Government of Assam’s failure to prioritise these issues.

In a statement, President of ABSU Dipen Boro and General Secretary Khanindra Basumatary said that the ABSU will carry out state-wide 3-hours sit-in- demonstrations on January 8 in every district headquarter in Assam. The demonstration will be held from 11 AM to 2 PM, during which the ABSU members and the general public will participate in a peaceful protest.

They said that despite numerous representations, dialogues with the concerned government departments and officials, and repeated assurances made by the government in various meetings and sittings, the educational demands of the Bodo community have remained pending since long and have not been given due importance for which the ABSU has been compelled to stage the sit-in- demonstrations to pressurize the government to take immediate and tangible action on their demands.

The demands of the ABSU include inclusion of Bodo as a subject in the Assam Judicial Service examinations, inclusion of Bodo as language in the Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET), establishment of 35 new ‘Model High Schools’ in the Bodo medium, up-gradation of 101 Bodo-medium High Schools to Higher Secondary Schools, along with the recruitment of teachers for these upgraded institutions, immediate provincialization of venture schools by implementing of clause 6.3 of the BTR Accord, recruitment and filling of the vacant Academic Officer post for the Bodo medium in the merged Assam State School Education Board (ASSEB), formerly the Board of Secondary Education Assam (SEBA), recruitment and appointment of an Academic Officer for the Bodo medium at the Assam Textbook and Publications Corporation, recruitment and appointment of a lecturer in Bodo language at the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), and recruitment and appointment of a translator for the Bodo language in the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).

The other demands of the ABSU include recruitment of two permanent teachers for each school under the Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS) that offers Bodo-medium education, introduction of Bodo as a medium of instruction in the Model Degree Colleges located in Baksa, Dhudnoi and Balipara, introduction and distribution of educational books in the Bodo language at Anganwadi centres, recruitment of one Assistant Professor for each of the Bodo departments in 10 colleges located outside the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) and transfer of teachers proficient in reading and writing in Bodo, currently teaching in various schools of different mediums across Assam, to Bodo-medium schools etc.

Also Read: Solve problems of Bodo medium students: All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU)

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