Assam Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said that he will introduce a Bill to repeal the provincialisation of Madrassa in the state legislative assembly. The three-day winter session of the Assam Legislative Assembly will begin from today.
"Today, I shall introduce a Bill to repeal provincialisation of Madrassa. Once the Bill is passed, the practice of running Madrassa by the Assam government will come to an end, a practice which was started by the Muslim League government in pre-Independence Assam," Himanta Biswa Sarma told news agency ANI.
On December 14, Himanta Biswa Sarma had said that the state government has decided to make ‘education secular’ and 198 high madrasas and 542 other madrasas in the state will operate as any other general educational institute and will not give admission to students for theological studies.
Terming the closure of the government-run madrassas in Assam a historic step, Sarma said the decision was taken to secularise the entire educational system in the state.
“The State Madrassa Education Board will be dissolved from the date of declaration of results of examinations to be held for the 2021-22 academic year, and all records, bank accounts, and staff will be transferred to the Board of Secondary Education, Assam,” the minister while addressing a press conference.
All the madrassa institutions will be renamed by removing the word ''Madrassa'' to avoid any confusion in the area of higher studies. There will not be any fresh admission to madrassa educational institutions in courses prescribed by the State Madrassa Board from April 1, 2021. Students will be admitted to the institutes for pursuing relevant courses of the state boards, he said.
All theological courses in the madrassas, including the study of the Holy Quran, Hadith, and other aspects of Islamic Studies, will be discontinued from April 1, 2021 and the teachers taking theological classes will be trained and engaged in the teaching of other subjects under the general educational system, the minister said.
There are currently 189 high madrassas under the Board of Secondary Education, Assam, while under the State Madrassa Board there are four Arabic Colleges, 141 title madrassas, 138 senior madrassas, and 230 pre-senior madrassas.
(Inputs from ANI and PTI)
