Northeast Diary: Decoding Assam’s ‘Protest or Destroy’ decree for schools India News – Times of India

Assam The government’s decision to close the “worst performing schools” has sparked a controversy. Some see it as a knee-jerk reaction to a problem that has been around for a long time and cannot be solved overnight.
on Wednesday, education Minister Ranoj Pegu Announcement of sudden closure of 34 state-funded schools citing dismal performance in class X state board examinations.
“The government cannot spend public money on schools showing zero-success records,” he said.
Two days later, the Education Department issued a notification saying that 95 new provincial secondary schools across the state would be merged into base schools.

It is learned that students and teachers of such schools will be shifted to nearby schools. The minister had also indicated that schools with declining enrollment may face similar action. The government is keeping an eye on about 2500 such schools.
But Assam is not the only state facing this problem. A NITI Aayog study released a few years back showed that “India has about 3-4 times the number of schools (15 lakh) than China (about 5 lakh) despite having a similar population”. Of these, about four lakh schools have less than 50 teachers each and a maximum of two teachers.
This indicates that India has a lot of schools, but there is a dearth of good schools that can provide quality education.
However, this decision of the Assam government is being criticized. Some argue that the pandemic has affected the teaching and learning process across the world. In India, students in government schools were more affected than those studying in private institutions, which quickly switched to digital mode.

In addition, access to the Internet has been a major issue for local medium students, many of whom come from rural and economically weaker sections. Even though government schools have started teaching lessons through digital mode, no one knows yet how many students in states like Assam can actually access those lessons.
“Closing schools is not the solution. We just need to open many new schools across the country. Instead of closing the schools, improve the school and provide quality education,” said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Taking a jibe at this move of the Assam government, tweeted in Hindi.
Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma hit back at Kejriwal. “Dear @ArvindKejriwal ji- As always you commented on something without any homework! From my days as education minister till now, please note, the Assam government has established/acquired more than 8,610 new schools,” he said in a Twitter post.

The decision appears to be in line with the recommendations of NITI Aayog, which has called for such schools to be consolidated within a short distance from each other and to provide transport and allowances.
The government think tank also suggests shifting teachers from surplus to deficit schools, restructuring complex teacher cadres and increasing investment in teacher recruitment through better planning and more rigorous processes.
However, skeptics say the closure of state-funded schools could be part of a move to push for more privatization in the education sector. But it is too early to reach any conclusion.

Battle lines drawn in Tripura

The ruling BJP is getting unusually busy in Tripura these days. From arranging high-profile tours to the appointment of a state unit leader, the saffron party and its ideological head, the RSS, have begun to prepare the ground for next year’s assembly elections.
On Thursday, state BJP vice-president Rajiv Bhattacharjee was promoted to the post of president, two days before party chief JP Nadda’s scheduled visit and a day before RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s arrival in the state.

Chief Minister with ruby: According to party insiders, there was a state president, and the responsibilities were divided due to the upcoming assembly elections. However, the saffron party is facing a tough challenge this time as the newly formed organisation, TIPRA Motha led by former royal descendant Pradyot Manikya Debbarma, has made deep inroads into tribal constituencies.
Just three days ago, Hungsa Kumar Tripura, the face of BJP in Tripura Tribal Area Autonomous District Council (TTAADC), overtook TIPRA Motha. The latter won the tribal council election last year.
It is, therefore, no surprise that Nadda will address a massive rally at Khumulwang, the headquarters of TTAADC. The rally will also mark the start of the BJP’s campaign for village committee elections in the tribal council area to be held in November.