Staff Reporter
Guwahati: Sadou Asom Sanmilita Sikshak Mancha, an umbrella organization of 12 teachers' bodies, demanded that colleges should not be shut down in the name of mergers and all vacant posts of teachers should be filled up before the start of the new academic year.
In a statement, president of the organization Ranjit Borthakur said, "If colleges are closed down in the name of merger, the students in the area will face difficulty getting the benefit of higher education. Students in rural areas will be deprived of higher education at minimal cost. A situation like that before Independence, when students had to travel long distances to attend college, will arise again. That is why the decision to merge colleges with low enrollment will not be a realistic one."
He further said, "The government data on the ratio of students to teachers in primary schools, which is stated to be 60:2, is not realistic. Every hour, five classes have to be held, and two teachers in the primary schools have to take these, which is simply not possible. It is clear that there is a shortage of three teachers in every primary school. In the same way, there is a requirement of seven teachers in each school, from ME to high school level. Moreover, skill-training teachers in science, commerce, the arts, and vocational streams are required. It can be said that all schools are running without enough teachers."
High secondary schools are the gateway to higher education, Borthakur maintained. "PG teachers for every subject are needed in higher secondary schools. In Assam, the government is running the higher secondary classes with the help of graduate teachers with post-graduate qualifications without paying adequate remuneration. 300 high schools were recently upgraded to higher secondary schools, and these schools are running like that only. The absence of subject-wise PG teachers is apparent. In such a scenario, the government is not planning to establish new schools or create new posts for teachers. We demand that all vacant posts of teachers be filled up before the start of the new academic session, 2024-25."
Also Read: Assam Government Plans To Stop Teacher Recruitment In Colleges With Low Student Enrolment
Also watch: