Golaghat, Jan. 6: Union human resource development minister Smriti Irani today declared that Assam's culture and heritage is going to find a place in the national education policy to be formulated by the Union government.
Smriti was on a daylong visit to the state today and laid the foundation stone of a permanent building of a central school in Chelengi here.
Speaking on the occasion, the minister said the government is going to set up 14 Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas in 14 districts of the state. These schools will be primarily targeting students living in the tea garden areas so that they can be provided with the best education.
The government will also introduce additional support classes to the children of tea garden labourers in order to prepare them for various entrance and competitive examinations, she said.
Replying to a query raised by Kaliabor MP Gaurav Gogoi, who was also present, regarding the closure of the scheme relating to setting up of model schools by the Union government, Smriti said the state governments are responsible for establishing and running model schools and not the Union government, therefore he should ask this question to his father Tarun Gogoi, who is the chief minister of the state.
She rebutted the allegation of curtailing funds allotted to the education sector of the state by the Centre and clarified that as far as the northeastern states are concerned, the funding pattern still remains intact at 90:10. For the first time ever, Himalayan states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand are getting aid from the Centre at 90:10.
Gaurav today praised Smriti for her role in bringing innovative ideas to the education sector and took note of her role in Parliament - how she makes the parliamentarians understand new schemes and policies introduced in her department with minute details.
The central school in Golaghat has been functioning since 2007 on the compound of a girls' polytechnic here on a temporary basis. The total cost of the project is estimated at Rs 18 crore and it is expected to be completed within 18 months. The school will also have 10 e-classes.
Union minister for sports and youth affairs and state BJP president Sarbananda Sonowal, Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan commissioner Santosh Kumar Mall, his deputy Ajay Pant, Golaghat deputy commissioner Anowarul Haque, and KVS Golaghat principal Tej Narayan Thakur were present on the occasion.
After the ceremony, Smriti went to address a rally of party workers at the Chelengi public playground.
She also inaugurated the permanent building of a Kendriya Vidyalaya school at Lakhimpur near Lilabari airport today. The school was earlier running in a rented house.
After the event, she attended a party meeting where she criticised the Assam government for not doing any development.
The meeting was also attended by Sonowal, Guwahati MP Bijoya Chakravarty and BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Additional reporting by Pranab Kumar Das in Tezpur
