HT Correspondent
Major reforms in education sector on the anvil
Highlights:
- All Govt schools to be made co-educational
- Dual medium to be introduced in primary level
- Moots free breakfast in addition to midday meals
‘Teaching of Science and Maths in English would be balanced by learning History and Geography in Assamese’
JORHAT, July 29: Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday announced a slew of reforms to better the education sector in the state including making all schools co- educational and introducing dual medium at the primary level.
Addressing the inaugural function of the 65th Centralised Midday Meal Kitchen in the country and second in the state, set up at Garmur here by the Akshaya Patra Foundation, Sarma said in all schools which had competent teachers, Science and Maths would be taught in English from class 3 onwards so that students could compete in all India exams like NEET and that History and Geography would be taught in Assamese language.
The chief minister said that the teaching of Science and Maths in English would be balanced by learning History and Geography in Assamese so that the Assamese language would be learnt by the children, which is also very important.
The chief minister said that instead of Social Science, History would be taught and Geography, which had been discontinued, would be reintroduced, making the number of subjects in HSLC six plus one instead of five plus one.
He said that it was important that the children learn about the geography of the state and the country.
He said that this was based on one school in which this had been done on an experimental basis and which had proved to be a great success with two English medium schools closing down in the vicinity and a huge increase in admissions to the Assamese medium one. “We have decided to admit girls in all boys’ schools and boys in all girls’ schools, except for a few girls’ schools which had a long tradition of being girls’ schools,” Sarma said.
Citing the example of Balya Bhawan School, one of the oldest private Assamese medium schools in Jorhat, the CM said that the government was mulling the introduction of free breakfast apart from lunch from government schools, something which Balya Bhawan had introduced long ago, when he had been admitted to the school in the primary level.
Lauding the Akshaya Patra Foundation, a charitable organisation, for opening a kitchen in Jorhat, he said that the Foundation is doing a yeoman’s job across the country by opening up such kitchens, so that children studying in public schools do not go hungry.
He said that initially 12,000 students would be fed which would immediately be increased to 35,000 students in the district.
Allaying fears that the cooks and helpers in cooking midday meals in the schools would become unemployed, he said that this would not happen and from now on they would receive the meals from Akshaya Foundation, distribute them among the schoolchildren and clean up after the food is consumed.
Notably, Foundation has set up the kitchen in Jorhat at a cost of Rs 14 crore.
Dignitaries attending the inauguration included Education minister Dr Ranoj Pegu, Jorhat MLA Hitendra Nath Goswami, Mariani MLA Rupjyoti Kurmi, Dergaon MLA Bhabendra Nath Bharali, Foundation chairman Chanchalapathi Dasa and others.
