Chief minister Tarun Gogoi waves at the crowd during the golden jubilee celebration of Sankardev Seminary High School in Jorhat on Wednesday. Picture by UB Photos

Jorhat, May 23: “Go West” is passe. East is the new toast of the education sector in Assam.

Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi today stressed the need to look at the education model followed by neighbouring Southeast Asian countries, which have done pretty well in recent times.

Speaking at the inaugural function of the year-long centenary celebrations of Sankardev Seminary High School here this afternoon, Gogoi said instead of taking a cue from the American and European education models, the states should have a look at the progress made by neighbouring nations like China, Vietnam, Thailand and countries of the southeastern region in the field of education.

He said in the last decade, education policies in these countries had led to development on all fronts, including more job opportunities in government and private sectors and improvement in their economies.

“At the recent chief ministers’ conference in Delhi, Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik and I discussed the progress made by Southeast Asian countries in the field of education and the need to emulate it in our states to boost the education system,” he added.

Gogoi said he had asked the education department to gather information on the education system in the neighbouring countries and to come up with proposals for the state.

He said the curriculum of schools and colleges were already being changed to keep in tune with the transformation taking place in the education sector in the world.

He said his government had put a lot of emphasis on improving the education scenario in the state. In the last 11 years, it has increased the allocation for education and the performance of students in HSLC and Plus II had also improved manifold. Since the government started giving computers to first division rank holders about seven years ago, the number of first division rank holders had gone up every year, he added.

The chief minister said the government was also focusing on producing quality teachers by adopting a transparent method of recruitment and organising training at frequent intervals. He said the attitude of the teachers had to change. They must make teaching and learning a happy exercise for teachers and students.

When the chief minister left the venue and headed towards Circuit House here, a group of Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti activists, including its leader Akhil Gogoi’s mother Priyada, sat on AT Road to disrupt the chief minister’s convoy. However, security officials diverted it to another route.

A heavy downpour also forced the protesters to vacate the road. Many of them were then arrested.