Rs.40 bn package for primary education in Assam

GUWAHATI - With the right to education now a reality, the Assam government Thursday announced a whopping Rs.40 billion package to bolster the state’s primary and middle school level education. It said an estimated 26,000 teachers will be appointed and around 20,000 schools will be set up in the next five years.

“Under the Right to Education provision, we have decided to have one primary school in a radius of one km and an upper primary school in a radius of three km,” Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi told reporters here.

As part of the ambitious plan, the student-teacher ratio would be 30:1 - an additional 20,733 teachers would be appointed in primary schools, while 5,177 teachers would be recruited for the upper primary schools.

“The whole idea is to give the state’s education sector, especially at the primary and upper primary level, a big boost. We need to concentrate on human resource development,” the chief minister said.

The dropout rate in Assam at the primary school level is a staggering 26.5 percent.

“Due to lack of primary schools or facilities, including inadequate teachers, parents often take their children out of schools and let them help or work for the family. When the parents will see these changes and schools in their neighbourhood, certainly they will get inspiration to let their children study,” Gogoi said.

Although the number of new primary and upper primary schools to be set up under the new plan was not immediately known, the chief minister said the large number of schools that would come up would require an additional 30,500 toilets for girls, besides 20,000 common toilets.

“We want to create an education revolution in the state and I am sure the new plans will change the education scene drastically,” Gogoi said.