Guwahati, Feb 24: The Garo Sahitya Sabha and Garo Students Union (Assam state zone) will soon submit to the Assam government a list of LP and ME schools in Garo-populated areas of state which are to be converted from Assamese to Garo medium.
A meeting in this regard was held between Assam education minister Ranoj Pegu and a delegation of representatives from the Garo Sahitya Sabha (GSS) and Garo Students Union (GSU-ASZ) here on Wednesday.
The minister, after a threadbare discussion, asked the delegation to submit the list of the LP and ME schools located in Garo areas (mainly in Kamrup and Goalpara districts) which are to be converted from Assamese to Garo medium.
Similarly, a list of high schools for upgrade from high to the higher secondary level, was also asked for by the minister.
“The lists will be prepared by the GSS and the GSU soon and the same will be submitted to the minister for necessary action,” T. K. Sangma, chief adviser of GSU-ASZ, said in a statement.
The discussion with the minister, it may be noted, was based on the memorandum submitted by the two organisations on December 31, 2021 during his visit to Gohalkona village near Boko.
“Various education-related problems faced by the Garo community living in Assam were highlighted in the memorandum,” Sangma said.
Key problems mentioned in the memorandum include the diminishing number of Garo teachers in Garo-medium LP, ME and High Schools; non availability of free Garo MIL textbooks for Class XI; conversion of the existing Assamese-medium schools located in the Garo areas to Garo-medium; extension of Garo medium to other districts of Assam; upgrade of existing high schools to higher secondary level; upgrade of the attached ME Schools to secondary level; appointment of Garo language instructors at Dudhnoi BTC and DIET, Dudhnoi, etc.
Other than these problems, the two organisations also reiterated their long-standing demand for provincialisation of existing venture LP, ME and high schools, re-introduction of Garo MIL at the degree level under Gauhati University, holding of special TET for Garo medium LP and ME schools, appointment of regular Garo language teachers in Assamese and Bodo medium LP and ME schools in Bodoland Territorial Council, introduction of Garo language courses at the post-graduate level under Gauhati University, etc.
The minister assured to fill the vacancies in the Garo medium LP and ME schools and make available free Garo MIL textbooks for Class XI to the students soon.
On the demand for introduction of Garo as MIL at the degree level, the minister said he would examine the matter and asked the delegations to submit the syllabi from NEHU at the earliest to go through it.
The matter of appointment of Garo language teachers in Dudhnoi BTC was also assured while the demand for provincialisation of the existing venture LP, ME and high schools in the Garo areas of Assam was turned down by the minister, saying that the matter is now ‘a closed chapter’.