ASPTA welcomes Assam government’s decision regarding scholarship exams

GUWAHATI: The Assam State Primary Teachers’ Association (ASPTA) has welcomed the state government’s decision to restart the scholarship examinations in the state, which had been halted for the last three years. The government will restart the scholarship scheme as Anundoram Barooah Scholarships.

In a statement, ASPTA president Akhil Chandra Nath mentioned that after Dr. Ranoj Pegu took over as the Education Minister, the existing Chief Minister’s Special Scholarship Examination was halted. He also mentioned that the association has been working towards restarting the examinations through formal and informal meetings with the education minister as well as the chief minister of the state.

He also mentioned that the scholarship amount started at Rs 10 and was later increased to Rs 50 per month. This scholarship was provided to about 2500 students for a duration of 18 months. But in 2019 and 2020, the students were not receiving even this meagre amount, and the association had carried out continuous protests against the same. Parallely, they had demanded an increase in the number of scholars to five thousand and an increase in the scholarship amount to Rs 500 from the existing Rs 50.

He added that under the former chief minister of Assam, the late Tarun Gogoi, the examination was started as the Chief Minister’s Special Scholarship Examination, and 50,000 students received Rs 5,000 as scholarships. But since 2021, the examination has been paused, resulting in 1.5 lakh students missing out on the opportunity for the last three years.

Nath thanked the chief minister and the current government for finally restarting the same on behalf of the association, while mentioning that the increase of the scholarship amount to Rs 15,000 will be written in golden letters as a milestone in the development of the education system in the state. He also mentioned that receiving a scholarship at the primary level of education is the first step towards following the dreams of a well-educated future. He also requested the state government not to pause this scheme in the future as well as to take steps to reward those students who performed well in Class V over the past three years and missed out on the scholarship.

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