26 colleges to come up in Bodoland Territorial Region

Assam government has assured a delegation of All Bodo Students’ Union (ABSU) and Bodo Sahitya Sabha that 26 colleges would be established in the Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) in the first phase of provincialisation.

The assurance was given by State Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma to the delegation, which called on him on Sunday.

The delegation demanded the implementation of the Clause 6.3 of the BTR Accord, which pertains to education. It was also decided that the adequate posts of Bodo language teachers would be created in schools in the Bodo region in tune with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. According to the decision taken on Sunday, there will be a single cadre post creation in all government and provincialised colleges. A special Teachers’ Eligibility Test (TET) for Bodo medium students, would be conducted by the Assam Government. Bodo language has been recognised as an associate official language of the state following the passage of the Assam Official Language (Amendment) Bill on December 31, 2020.

Last month, the Chief Minister had announced that Bodo medium students can write in Bodo language, the civil services examination, conducted by Assam Public Service Commission (APSC).

The education department is to be directed to check the status of colleges, infrastructure, qualification of existing faculty and need for fresh recruitment among other issues and take appropriate action in this regard.

Sarma assured the delegates that a campus of Bodoland University will be established at Udalgiri along with science and law colleges in BTR.

An advisory committee comprising representatives of Welfare of Plain Tribes and Backward Classes (WPTBC) Department, Education Department, ABSU and Bodo Sahitya Sabha to oversee the implementation of the decisions taken in the meeting. ​​​​​​​