96 schools to be ‘permanently closed’ by the government in Assam

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: In a new, albeit regressive, move concerning the education sector in Assam, 96 newly provincialized schools are being permanently closed by the state government after being shifted.

In this connection, a communiqué issued by the state director of secondary education to all inspectors of schools stated that 510 schools were provincialized in the year 2021 as per “The Assam Education Provincialization of Services of Teachers and Re-organisation of Educational Institutions Act 2017” as amended in 2018. Out of these 510 schools, 38 are under BTAD, and the remaining 472 are under Plain Districts, Karbi-Anglong, and Dima Hasao, as stated.

The letter further said that out of 472 schools, 366 are declared ‘self-base’ schools, and 96 schools have shifted to their respective ‘base’ schools. The 96 schools, in view of their being shifted to their respective base schools, are being ‘permanently closed’.

In the matter concerning the staff at these 96 schools on the verge of closure, only the teaching and non-teaching staff whose services were provincialized in the year 2021 are allowed to shift to their respective base schools.

Moreover, the teaching and non-teaching staff of the 366 Self Base school, whose services were provincialized in the year 2021, are only allowed to work in their respective Self Base schools.

It is emphatically stated that no incumbent whose services were not provincialized will be allowed to continue to work in the self-base schools. The fate of the teaching and non-teaching staff at the 96 shifted schools now hangs in the balance, as the same criterion will be followed in their case too.

Notably, the categories of the 366 self base schools can be divided into: 156 high schools, 121 senior secondary schools, and 89 higher secondary schools. The 96 schools to be closed down after being shifted to their respective base schools can be divided into: 79 high schools and 17 senior secondary schools.

The district-wise breakup of the schools on the verge of closure can be given as follows: 11 in Barpeta district, 9 in Bongaigaon, 2 in Darrang, 19 in Dhemaji, 7 in Dhubri, 3 in Goalpara, 2 in Golaghat, 1 in Hailakandi, 3 in Jorhat, 1 in Jorhat/Majuli, 2 in Kamrup (metro), 8 in Kamrup, 1 each in Karbi Anglong and Karimganj, 11 in Lakhimpur, 3 in Morigaon, 1 in Nagaon, 2 in Nalbari, 4 in Sivasagar, 1 in Sonitpur, 3 in South Salmara-Mankachar, and 1 in Tinsukia district.

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