The pathetic condition of elementary education during the previous Congress government in Assam came to light in the Lok Sabha on Monday. The previous government had miserably failed in recruiting sufficient number of teachers in schools under elementary education across the state. Interestingly, present Assam education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma was holding the education portfolio for a long term as a Congress minister.
In a reply to the Lok Sabha, human resources development minister Prakash Javadekar said 39,522 posts of teachers in elementary schools in Assam were lying vacant as on March 31, 2016, and the percentage of vacant posts of teachers in the state is more than the all-India average.
“In Assam, sanctioned posts of teachers in elementary schools were 2,01,695 and there were teachers for 1,62,169 posts as on March 31, 2016. Of the total sanctioned posts of teachers in elementary schools, 19.6 percent posts were lying vacant as on March 31, 2016,” said Javadekar, pointing out, “The all India average in regard to vacant posts of teachers in elementary schools was 17.51 per cent as on March 31, 2016.”
Even 1,673 posts of teachers in government secondary schools in 2016-17 are lying vacant against 43,230 sanctioned posts, informed Javadekar.
In the issue of recruitment of teachers in elementary schools, the previous state government had failed miserably. Lack of sufficient teachers was one of the main reasons why many children in the state have stopped going to school.
Recently state education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma declared that 10,336 posts of teachers in elementary schools would be filled-up by January 26 next year.
Although it will help improve the situation of elementary education in the state to an extent, the BJP-led government in Assam still has far to go to make up for the tardiness of the previous government in providing free elementary education as a universal fundamental right, a report in the Sentinel noted.
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