Gunotsav 2023 aims at weeding out 'ghost students' from schools: Minister Ranoj Pegu

No TET for the next two years

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Assam's Education Minister Ranoj Pegu has said that there is strong ground for suspecting the existence of a sizeable number of 'ghost students' (fictitious students) in various Government and provincialized schools of the State and said that emphasis will be laid on identifying them during Gunotsav 2023, which will be held from January 28 to February 18.

Addressing the media here on Wednesday, Pegu said that it was noticed during previous Guntosavs that there was noticeable absenteeism in various schools.

He said, "Absenteeism of up to 5 per cent is acceptable, but if that figure crosses 20 per cent then it becomes suspicious. Therefore, we have decided that during the ensuing Guntosav, even absent students will be taken into account while grading the school concerned." He said that hitherto the evaluation was done based on students present during Gunotsav, but from now on the grading will be based on the official enrollment of students in the school concerned, with absent students being considered as having failed. This system is expected to facilitate weeding out of 'ghost students', he added.

Pegu also said that no teacher will be allowed to participate in the Gunotsav evaluation of his/her school. A randomization portal was launched today for online random selection of the cluster of schools where each teacher will participate in the evaluation process.

Meanwhile, the Education Minister also announced that the State Government has decided not to hold any Teachers' Eligibility Test (TET) for lower and upper primary teachers for the next two years. He added that aspiring candidates can appear at the CTET held twice a year by the CBSE. He said that once the recruitment process is initiated, those who have already passed TET or CTET may apply for the recruitment.

Pegu informed that Gunotsav-2023 will be held in three phases from January 18 to February 18. The first phase from January 18 to January 21 will cover Barpeta, Karimganj, Kamrup, Karbi Anglong, Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur, Majuli, Nagaon, Sivasagar, South Salmara-Mankachar and Udalguri districts. The second phase from February 1 to February 4 will cover Baksa, Chirang, Charaideo, Dhemaji, Dhubri, Golaghat, Hojai (part of Nagaon district), Hailakandi, Jorhat, Kamrup (M), Sonitpur, Tinsukia and West Karbi Anglong districts. The third phase from February 15 to February 18 will cover the Biswanath (part of Sonitpur district), Bongaigaon, Darrang, Dibrugarh, Dima Hasao, Goalpara, Cachar, Nalbari and Morigaon districts. A total of 44,525 schools and 42,76,881 students of Government schools, provincialized schools, tea garden management schools, Adarsha Vidyalayas, tea garden model schools, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas and Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Avasiya Vidyalayas will be covered under Gunotsav 2023.

For this purpose, a total of 18,097 external evaluators will be deployed across the State. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, along with ministers, MPs, MLAs, CEMs, EMs and senior officers will take part in the event to encourage the students as well as teachers.

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