STAFF REPORTER
GUWAHATI: At a time when controversy and debate are rife over the proliferation of madrassas in minority-dominated areas of Assam, a provincialized primary school in the Morigaon district is bearing testimony to the fact that the presence of a good school in the area can induce guardians from the minority community to admit their wards there in large numbers.
The school – Morisuti Tup New Primary School under the Mayong Circle – has over 400 students, almost all of whom are from the minority community. The school not only conducts digital classes, but the attractiveness of its campus can match many a high-end private school.
Talking to The Sentinel, the headmaster of the school, Shakir Ahmed said that only around 30 per cent of the students are from the locality, while the majority has been admitted from nearby villages. Ahmed said that reason for this is that the residents of the nearby minority-dominated areas want their children to get their education in a good general school.
Ahmed said that when he took charge of the school in 2016, it had only 59 students. That number has gone up to 416 students now, he said. The headmaster explained that the condition of the school was dilapidated in 2016, due to which guardians did not want to admit their children there.
Ahmed said that he had decided to upgrade the school in a phased manner and spent his own money at times to bring the school to its present level.
The school has Wi-Fi connectivity and digital classrooms, as a result of which the students attend the classes with great interest, he said. Ahmed said that the main problem that he is facing is imbalance in the teacher-student ratio because there are five teachers against 416 students. As a result, it is becoming difficult to give due focus on individual students, he said.
Ahmed asserted that if good schools can be established in other minority-dominated areas, then the need for madrassas will automatically diminish because even parents from the minority community accords first priority to a sound general education for their children.
Ahmed said that apart from improving the education scenario, he has been working in the area since 2012 to create awareness against drugs and child marriage and has had to face many untoward situations. Evils like child marriage and drug abuse will disappear if the children of minority-dominated areas become well-educated, Ahmed said.
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