All Assam Students' Union demands textbooks in Assamese

GUWAHATI: The All Assam Students' Union (AASU) has asked the state government to provide Assamese textbooks from Class VI to XII instead of those in English.

Regarding this issue, the AASU sent a letter to chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday containing a demand to provide textbooks in Assamese and other regional languages.

Speaking to the media, AASU president Utpal Sarma and general secretary Sankor Jyoti Baruah said that the state government has recently decided to provide textbooks of mathematics and science for classes VI to XII in the English language. But, they said, for a long time now, they have been opposing the move by the state government to provide English-language textbooks for these subjects. In addition to AASU, the All Bodo Students' Union (ABSU), Axam Xahitya Xabha, and Bodo Xahitya Xabha had jointly communicated their opposition to the move by the state government and demanded a rollback of its decision. They wanted the state government to provide the textbooks in regional languages instead of the English language.

AASU leaders also said, "It was noticed by us that the textbooks for mathematics and science were not provided in Assamese language in the Assamese medium schools for the academic year. Instead of the textbooks in Assamese, the students were provided textbooks in English, which is not acceptable. Due to this sudden decision, not only the students but also their parents and teachers were dissatisfied with the latest move by the state government. So, we demand that textbooks on these subjects be provided in the mother tongue of the students, including Assamese, Bodo, etc. However, we have no objection if the terminology of science and mathematics is given in English."

The AASU leaders further pointed out that the new National Education Policy 2020 also has a provision for providing textbooks in the mother tongue of the students.

In the letter, the AASU asked the state government to give more importance to the better teaching of English to the students in Assamese, Bodo, etc. medium schools to make them more proficient in the English language.

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