GUWAHATI: Assam has taken a major move towards “secularisation of education” by deciding to close down all government-funded religious educational institutions in the state, education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Monday.
“The state Cabinet had decided to dissolve the state madrassa board from the date of declaration of the results of the examinations to be held in the academic year 2021-22. The madrassa board will be merged with the Board of Secondary Education (SEBA) and Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC),” Sarma told reporters.
The Cabinet had approved a proposal to repeal provisions for madrassas and Sanskrit tols (schools). A Bill in this regard will be tabled in the winter session of the Assam Assembly session later this month.
“High Madrassa exams will no longer be conducted from the academic year 2021-22. Academic and administrative authority of the madrassas will be transferred to the directorate of secondary education while the term ‘madrassa’ will cease to exist from the institutions which will be transformed into regular schools,” said Sarma.
“This is a historic initiative to secularise education in Assam. State funded madrassas were introduced in 1934. The government has now overhauled a system prevalent since the pre-Independence days,” he said.
As many as 542 madrassas, 147 high madrassas and 97 Sanskrit tols, all funded by the government, have been functioning in Assam since the pre-Independence days.
The minister said that the Sanskrit ‘tols’ in the state, which were teaching Hindu scriptures and other subjects, will from now on come under the Kumar Bhaskar Varma Sanskrit and Ancient Studies University and would run diploma and degree courses on Indian history and culture.
“Assam will be the first state in the country to introduce exclusive diploma and degree courses on Indian civilisation,” he said.
High madrassas under SEBA had been imparting a subject on religious teachings (theological studies) with 50 percent marks which will be dropped after the final exam next year.
“The teachers who were imparting theological courses will be trained further so that they can teach general subjects,” Sarma said.
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