GUWAHATI: The Assam government on Monday tabled a Bill to close down all state-run madrassas and convert them into general schools from next year.
State education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma tabled The Assam Repealing Bill, 2020 during the first day of the winter session of the state Assembly.
The Bill proposes to abolish two existing acts, The Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialisation) Act, 1995 and The Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialisation of Services of Employees and Re-Organisation of Madrassa Educational Institutions) Act, 2018.
“Once the bill is passed, the practice of running madrassas by the government in Assam will come to an end, a practice which was started by Muslim League government in pre-Independence Assam,” Sarma had tweeted prior to tabling the Bill on Monday morning.
Earlier, the education minister had announced that the government would convert all state-run madrassas and Sanskrit tols (schools) into general institutes in an attempt to make education ‘secular and inclusive’.
The state Cabinet also 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 had told reporters earlier this month, while terming the Cabinet move as “historic”.
As many as 542 madrassas and 147 high madrassas have been functioning in Assam since the pre-Independence days, the minister had earlier informed.
He further said that all state-run madrassas would be converted into upper primary, high and higher secondary schools with no change of status, pay, allowances and service conditions of the teaching and non-teaching staff.