Dispur: The Assam cabinet, on December 13, approved a proposal to close down all government-run madrassas and Sanskrit tols (schools). A Bill on this will be tabled during the upcoming winter session of the Assam Assembly, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said on December 13.
"Existing laws related to madrassas and Sanskrit tols will be repealed. A bill will be introduced in the next session of the Assembly," Patowary, who is also the spokesperson of the Assam government, said.
The winter session of the Assam Legislative Assembly will begin from December 28.
There are 610 state-run madrassas across Assam and the government has been spending Rs 260 crore annually for these institutes, Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said earlier. He had also said in October that the Madrassa Education Board would get dissolved, and the state-run madrassas would get converted into high schools.
Notably, madrassas funded by the state government function just like other government schools. All subjects are taught according to the state education board curriculum too. Only two extra subjects, namely, Arabic language and Theology, are taught in madrassas.
The Assam Education Minister had further said that the Sanskrit tols would be converted into centres of research where Indian culture and nationalism would be taught, and they would be handed over to the Kumar Bhaskarvarma Sanskrit University.
Sarma had said earlier that this decision is being taken as it is "not the responsibility of the government" to teach Arabic, or any other language, and religious texts. He had added: "We cannot be teaching the Bhagavad Gita or Bible in schools."
-PTI
