GUWAHATI: State education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Saturday, February 22 that ‘maktab’ schools in Assam will have to drop the word ‘maktab’ from their name.
The state government has passed an order regarding the same, informed Sarma while addressing a press meet on Saturday.
“There were 63 such schools in Assam which write the word ‘maktab’ in their names. In this regard, the state government has passed an order that these schools will have to drop the word ‘maktab’ from their names,” he said.
Sarma further added, “The name of the schools used to cause a problem for students who went to take admission in higher classes in general schools after studying in ‘maktab’ schools for a few years. The authorities often turned them down saying how can they study in a general schools after learning religious education for so many years?,” said Sarma.
It is to be mentioned that the state government had recently taken a decision to convert government-run Madrassas into regular high schools.
There are a total of 706 Madrassas in Assam which include provincialised as well as government-recognised Madrassas. Further, a total of more than 70,000 students study in these Madrassas currently.
Further, government’s decision to close down Madrassas has drawn flak from the members of the Muslim community. They feel that it has hurt the sentiments of their community.
Several people from the minority community feel that the BJP-led government is deliberately taking such decisions to make Muslims feel like second class citizens in their home state.
