‘Like Don Bosco and St Mary’s’: Assam’s iconic govt schools, which lagged as private ones raced ahead, are getting a makeover

Sumi is astir looking guardant to her schoolhouse having capable classrooms and teachers to let classes to beryllium divided into sections.

The caller gathering of the Bezera Higher Secondary School successful Kamrup territory of Assam. (Sukrita Baruah)

The Bezera school, established 75 years ago, is the oldest and utilized to beryllium 1 of the astir prestigious successful the area. Its historic, traditional-style gathering was demolished implicit a twelvemonth agone to springiness mode to a gleaming caller three-storey operation with an concern of Rs 8 crore. In the intervening period, Sumi and different students were moved to makeshift classrooms successful a abstracted building.

While this is the archetypal aged authorities schoolhouse successful Assam to person its infrastructure overhauled nether the plan, enactment is underway to modernise 3 specified schools successful each of the 126 Assembly constituencies successful the state, with each task estimated to outgo Rs 8-10 crore.

Inaugurating the caller gathering during the school’s diamond jubilee solemnisation past week, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is besides the section MLA, declared that these vernacular-medium schools would beryllium comparable to “Don Bosco and St Mary’s” — convent schools that person agelong been held arsenic the finest successful the state.

Principal Debendra Nath Deka, who is besides an alumnus of the school, said that portion the aged schoolhouse gathering had 12 rooms, the caller 1 has 34.

“The infrastructure volition see laboratories, tinkering labs, machine labs, and astute classes. It is an Assamese-medium school, but successful the adjacent world league starting successful April, it volition beryllium dual medium, with some Assamese and English. We present person 806 students successful the schoolhouse from nursery to Class 12. We anticipation that erstwhile radical spot the caller schoolhouse building, they volition spot it arsenic nary little than a backstage schoolhouse and enrol their children here,” helium says.

The school’s surroundings are rural, and its students are chiefly from little and lower-middle-class families. Its prestige has dwindled implicit the years, but its existent unit — galore of whom are besides alumni — anticipation the redevelopment volition reverse the slide.

Apart from caller infrastructure, the schoolhouse has different needs, excessively — teachers constituent retired that portion determination are 79 teaching posts, lone 35 person been filled. While higher secondary classes presently look the situation of excessively galore students stuffed into a people due to the fact that of a deficiency of rooms and teachers, enrollment is comparatively bladed successful the little classes.

Several backstage schools person besides travel up successful the area, reducing the entreaty of the aged authorities school, unit say.

“There are 25 schools wrong a five-kilometre radius. Of these, determination are 2 large backstage schools, and 1 is English-medium. Our schoolhouse has survived portion competing with these, which is simply a substance of pridefulness successful itself. Especially astatine the superior and mediate schoolhouse level, galore parents would alternatively nonstop their children to a backstage schoolhouse adjacent though we supply escaped education. We anticipation and expect that galore radical volition alteration their minds (with the redevelopment taking place),” says Bhupen Deka, an bureau adjunct astatine the schoolhouse and an alumnus.

Jayram Singh Brahma, Joint Director of Secondary Education successful the authorities government, says each the schools that volition beryllium likewise “upgraded” are aged schools with an enrolment of implicit 500 students. The section MLA oregon their nominee volition beryllium the president of the School Management Committee of astatine slightest 1 specified schoolhouse successful their constituency, making these “MLA exemplary schools”, helium said.

With enactment simultaneously taking spot to adhd caller exemplary schools successful beverage plot areas, Brahma said the absorption is besides connected addressing schoolhouse dropouts.

“According to UDISE (Unified District Information System for Education), the dropout complaint astatine the secondary level is 26 per cent. So, the authorities is focusing a batch connected reducing this done high-quality schools,” helium said.

At the inauguration of the caller gathering of the Bezera school, people 12 pupil Jemim Akhtara was listening intimately to speeches astir the promised facilities. “It looks good, and I americium excited to commencement classes. I consciousness arrogant to beryllium studying here,” Jemim said.