Amid protests from the Opposition members, the 126-member Assam Assembly on Wednesday passed a Bill to convert State-run madrasas into regular schools .
The Assam Repealing Bill, 2020 seeks to abolish the Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialization) Act, 1995 and the Assam Madrassa Education (Provincialization of Services of Employees and Re-Organisation of Madrassa Educational Institutions) Act, 2018.
The Bill also seeks to convert 97 provincialised Sanskrit tol s (learning centres) into study and research centres affiliated to a university of Sanskrit and ancient studies in western Assam’s Nalbari from January 2022.
State Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said the Bill was for government-run madrasas and there will be no steps to close down or regulate the private madrasas in Assam.
“All government madrasa institutes will be converted into upper primary, high and higher secondary schools with no change of status, pay, allowances and service conditions of the teaching and non-teaching staff,” he said.
Assam has 189 high and higher secondary madrasas run under the Board of Secondary Education, Assam and Assam Higher Secondary Education Council, respectively. The State has 542 pre-senior, senior and title madrasa and Arabic colleges run by the State Madrasa Education Board.
