Guwahati (Assam): The Assam government is on the verge of shutting down 70 colleges in the state including some heritage government colleges in view of the low enrollment rate of students. The decision to close down such a large number of colleges is creating buzz in the state.
The move is in accordance with the Clause 10.1 of the New Education Policy wherein the closure of colleges, which do not have 3000 students, has been recommended. On the basis of the recommendation by the New Education Policy, the Assam government has chalked out a plan to permanently close down colleges with less than 500 students.
The Directorate of Higher Education has decided to close down these 70 colleges on the pretext of enrolling fewer students. Meanwhile, the Directorate of Higher Education also held a meeting with the Principals and president of the governing bodies of the listed colleges on Feb 24 at Assam secretariat to brief them about the move.
The affected colleges include Agia College, Alhaz Sonai Bibi Choudhury College, Bamundi Mahavidyalaya, Barpeta Bongaigaon College, Langla, Barpeta Girls' College, Barpeta, Borhat BPB Memorial College, Brahmaputra Degree College and Chandra Nath Bezbaruah College, Bokakhat to mention a few.
Meanwhile, Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu has denied the move after reports of plans to shut down 70 colleges evoked widespread reactions across the state. In a post on X, previously Twitter, Minister of Education Ranoj Pegu wrote, “In response to a news of college amalgamation, I do hereby clarify that there is no move now to amalgamate Colleges with low enrollment. We are making efforts to increase enrollment in colleges with low enrollment.”
On the other hand the All Assam Students' Union has expressed surprise over the issue and protested against such a decision and strongly opposed it. In a statement, AASU president Utpal Sarma and General Secretary Sankarjyoti Baruah said, "The Assam government has decided to destroy the state education system by taking such harmful decisions one after the other. First, 8,000 public schools in Assam were closed in the name of school merger. Now they want around 70 colleges to be closed down. At a time when thousands of students are deprived of higher education, the decision to close the college is not acceptable for any reason”.
