Assam Government to make Assamese till 10th Class compulsory go get Government Jobs

Assamese Compulsory in School: As per media reports, Assam Government is planning to make Assamese as a compulsory criteria until 10th Class for students who want to get Government jobs. The proposal to make Assamese language learning until 10^th Class as a compulsory eligibility criteria for government job aspirants in the state was announced by the Assam Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on 25^th January 2020. In his address, Mr Sarma briefed the media agencies that going forward, Assamese learning will be treated as a compulsory criteria for all aspirants who want to join Government Jobs in the state.

Barak / BTAD exempted

After announcing the government’s decision, he further added that the new rule will be applicable to all the districts of the states except in three Barak Valley districts and the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Districts (BTAD). Instead of Assamese, in these two areas, the respective local languages i.e. Bengali and Bodo will be treated as a compulsory subject until 10^th Class to be eligible for government jobs, respectively. Following this decision, “children, who study outside the state,will not be eligible to apply for any state government job in Assam as they have not studied Assamese in their schools.”

Assamese to be Compulsory Subject in All Schools

The announcement to make Assamese a compulsory eligibility criteria until 10^th Class comes in the wake of Assam Cabinet decision to make Assamese education compulsory in Government Schools. Earlier in the month, the Assam Cabinet had announced a decision to make Assamese a compulsory subject in all mediums of schools. Assam Government is expected to bring in a bill to support this decision in the state assembly during the budget session.

Other Decision Related to Education Sector

Apart from the decision to treat Assamese as compulsory eligibility criteria for government jobs, the state government also announced a slew of other decision and measures related to education sector. Among them, the key included:

1. Allocation of Rs 3000 crore budget to revamp elementary, secondary and higher secondary education
2. Proposal to recruit 15,000 teachers at elementary school level and 8,000 teachers at secondary level in next 6 months
3. At higher education level, 30 new colleges to be provincialized and 900 teaching and non-teaching posts regularised
4. Proposal to offer pay parity, security of tenure and issue of medical reimbursement to 42,000 teachers working under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) in next 6 months
5. Setting up of 100 new colleges in garden areas and up gradation of high schools to higher secondary schools in next 6 months
6. Government to provide 4 sets of uniform to students classes 1 to 8