Assam: Chief Minister Defends Move to Shutdown Schools Across State

GUWAHATI: Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma defended his government's decision to shut down several schools despite criticism. He cited the excessive number of schools in Assam compared to other states as the reason for the ongoing process.

Sarma told reporters on Thursday, "In other parts of the country, there is only one school within a 1 km radius. But in Assam, we have five schools within 1 km."

He added sarcastically, "If this trend continues, then the people of Assam have to give birth to more children."

In recent years, Assam had a considerable number of venture schools that the government took over. Sarma mentioned, "We have provincialized a lot of venture schools on humanitarian grounds. However, this decision has increased the number of schools in many places. Now we think it is better to have five teachers in a school than a single teacher in five schools."

The Chief Minister stated that after evaluating all aspects, a few schools would be amalgamated with other schools.

Furthermore, Sarma claimed that the learning environment in government schools has significantly improved with the introduction of digital attendance for students and teachers by the education department.

Earlier, Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma, inaugurated the Centre for Developing Sports Training, Rehabilitation at Jorhat today. OIL and NRL under its CSR has financially supported setting-up of the high-performance sports training and rehabilitation centre, to cater to the needs of budding talents as well as sports persons of the state while providing a scientific approach to deal with issues related to sports.

The event was also graced by Ajanta Neog, Minister of Finance, Women & Child Development, Assam; Tapan Kumar Gogoi, Member of Parliament, Jorhat; Kamakhya Prasad Tasa, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha; Hitendra Nath Goswami, MLA, Jorhat; Rupjyoti Kurmi, MLA, Mariani; Dr. Ranjit Rath, CMD OIL & Chairman NRL; Bhaskar Jyoti Phukan, MD, NRL; Pooja Suri, Independent Director, OIL and Atindra Roychoudhury, RCE, OIL.

Also Read: Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma launches Orunodoi 2.0 in Jorhat

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