School uniforms: Teachers’ body seeks CM Himanta Biswa Sarma’s intervention

Unusual haste in distribution of school uniforms

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: The Assam State Primary Teachers’ Association (ASPTA) has urged Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to intervene in the unusual haste adopted by the Education Department in providing school uniforms to students. 

In its letter to the Chief Minister, the Association said that such haste in providing uniforms to the students led to irregularities last year. Even questions were raised about the quality of the uniform provided to the students. The quality of uniforms stirred up a debate in the ongoing Budget Session of the State Assembly, they said, adding that students from around 3,000 schools did not get uniforms due to the unusual haste.

The association said that the department has adopted the same haste this year as well. An school needs at least 20–25 days to follow the guidelines issued for schools in supplying uniforms to the students, the letter said, and added that ‘if the guidelines for uniforms need to be implemented in black and white, it will lead to compromise in quality. “The teachers, as often as not, land in troubled waters while racing against the clock to complete their assigned jobs within a short span of time,” the association said, and it requested that the Chief Minister give adequate time to the schools to distribute school uniforms to the students.

The association further said, “Since the department has instructed the schools to provide uniforms to the students before the beginning of the academic session, a section of students who leave schools for various reasons use the uniform as household clothing. Since the distribution of uniforms begins before the onset of the academic session, the students of Class I do not get uniforms as they take admission in April.”

The department issued two orders—one on February 8 for secondary education and the other on January 24 for elementary education—for the distribution of uniforms by February 17, 2024.

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