On December 14, the government has already restructured 1,281 madrassas in the state as Middle English Schools.
Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – Close on the heels of Assam government’s decision to restructure 1,281 madrassas in the state as Middle English Schools, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma has announced plans to close down about 1,000 private madrassas.
Talking to reporters at his residence in Guwahati on Monday, the chief minister explained that private madrassas are safeguarded by the Constitution of India and are exempt from the Right to Education Act. However, despite this, the Assam Police and Education Department are collaborating to potentially decrease the number of private madrassas by 1,000 in the near future. The government is currently in discussions with the madrassas regarding this matter, media reports reaching here quoted the chief minister as saying.
“We have said to them: Look you are not providing basic infrastructure; you should not run it. Like that we are working on it,” Sarma was cited by The Free Press Journal as saying.
The BJP-led Assam government renamed 1,281 state-run madrassas as Middle English Schools on December 14. Education Minister Ranoj Pegu said then the decision was taken to foster uniformity and inclusion in the state’s education system.
On Monday, the chief minister further said his government will conduct a special census of indigenous Muslims of the state. He hoped the exercise would be completed by the end of the year.
The process of identifying villages where Assamese Muslims live has already started. Also wards and other places where Assamese Muslims reside in town areas are also being marked, he said.
