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Kokrajhar, May 4: Schools in the Bodo belt today had an unofficial holiday, as the All Bodo Students Union (Absu) called for a class boycott across the state.
The boycott was called as a part of a series of agitation, demanding a solution to the problems faced by the Bodo-medium schools.
Schoolchildren were seen returning home before time in the four BTC-administered districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa and Udalguri.
Absu has been demanding a separate directorate for Bodo-medium education to provincialise the Venture Bodo Medium Schools according to Section 6 of the RTE Act, 2009, which states that all schools of the mother language should be provincialised.
It has also demanded the appointment of teachers in Bodo-medium schools, according to Section 29 (2) (F) of the RTE Act, 2009, which states that teachers should be appointed in all the mother language schools, scrapping of Sections 3 (1) (i), (ii), (iii) and 4 (1) in the Assam Venture Educational institution (Provincialisation of Services) Act, 2011, be scrapped and separate teacher eligibility tests for Bodo-medium schools.
The union has announced a series of agitation programmes, including the class boycott today, demonstration at the block elementary education offices on May 11, 12-hour national highway blockade on May 19, 12-hour railway blockade on May 25 and 12-hour Assam bandh on June 1.
Absu general secretary Jiron Basumatary said the union has been putting pressure on the state government to resolve the various problems faced by the Bodo-medium students but it has never taken any initiative to improve the Bodo-medium schools though Bodo medium was introduced in 1963.
Basumatary called the state government irresponsible saying the government had adopted an anti-Bodo medium policy. “The negligence has made Bodo-medium endangered, the Absu leader said.
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