By Preetam BC

 

Kokrajhar : The All Bodo Students Union slammed the state government for non-availability of free textbooks to the students, especially those belonging to vernacular Bodo medium.

ABSU Education Secretary Kokrajhar District committee Khampa Basumatary said that majority students of Bodo medium schools were yet to receive free textbooks even after the classes had started from 2nd January 2019.

In Kokrajhar district alone, there is a shortage of over 25,000 textbooks.

The student leader said the massive shortage of textbooks has been caused by the continued negligence of the state government towards Bodo-medium education. “Since the inception of Bodo medium, the problem of late distribution and error-ridden textbooks has been the norm due to negligence and step-motherly attitude of the government towards the Bodo medium education, he said.

Stating that this is not the first time such thing has happened, the student union questions as to why repeatedly government of Assam fails to monitor such negligence by the concern department.

“It is a blatant infringement of Right to Education under Article 21A of the Constitution,” the student leader said.

“Bodo is a much neglected medium of instruction in Assam and because of this we have been demanding a separate directorate for Bodo-medium education. But the government has not given any positive response,” he said.

Basumatary said such repetition or failure by the state government would be discriminatory towards the Bodo Medium Education in Assam and will bring threat towards formal learning and development of the downtrodden tribes the Bodos. The state govt must avoid the discriminatory provisions for the vernacular mediums in the state.

The number of students who have not obtained the text books in Kokrajhar district:

Class VI= Sankhanti: 3471 Copy

Class VI = Bigiyan: 167 Copy

Class VII= Gwdan Khonsai Bidang: 3580 Copy

Class IX= Gwdan Khonsai Bidang: 5457 Copy

Class IX= An Approach English Grammar: 55 Copy

Class IX= Jarimin: 1471 Copy

Class IX= Thunlai Bijab: 3033 Copy

Class X= Sankhanthi: 4697 Copy

Class X= Gwdan Mulug Jarimin: 1445 Copy

Class X= Thunlai Bijab: 2030 Copy

 

A memorandum was submitted to chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal, Education minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya demanding immediate supply and distribution of Bodo-medium textbooks from class I to X.

The student union demand for cent per cent distribution of text books to the students within February, 2019 and threatened of agitation if the state government fails to fulfill its demands.