Assam education minister holds talks with principals, heads of 79 colleges; focus on enrolment enhancement

NEW DELHI: Assam education minister Ranoj Pegu held a meeting with the principals and governing body presidents of 79 colleges which have less than 500 enrolled students. The minister discussed the roadmap to enhance enrolment in these colleges. The minister on the X account said, “Enhancing gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher education is a priority of the (state) government.”

The minister has also directed the Assam higher education department to draft a policy to merge colleges with low enrolment. He also instructed the department to stop teachers’ recruitment against vacancies in departments with low enrolment. “I’ve directed the Assam higher education department to draft a policy similar to Siksha Khetra (scheme) of department of school education Assam with the aim to merge colleges or departments having low enrolment and to stop recruiting teachers against vacancies in departments with low enrolment,” Pegu tweeted on his X account.

The Assam government has implemented the Siksha Khetra Scheme for the amalgamation and merger of schools, including the government-run primary, medium, higher and senior secondary schools.

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The Assam government recently introduced a bill ‘the Assam State School Education Board Bill, 2024’ in the Legislative Assembly to create a new body to merge the Board of Secondary Education, Assam, (SEBA) and the Assam Higher Secondary Education Council (AHSEC) to create a new body, Assam State School Education Board (ASSEB).

The body will “regulate, supervise and develop Secondary Education in the state of Assam by merging the existing Board of Secondary Education, Assam, and Assam Higher Secondary Education Council", the preamble of the legislation stated.