Guwahati, June 1: Assam education minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today said Sankardev College in Hojai, Bajali College in Barpeta and Madhavdeb College in Lakhimpur would be upgraded to universities.
"A proposal to upgrade these colleges to universities will be presented to the cabinet in August this year and hopefully it will be passed. However, these universities will not be independent universities, but affiliated to a parent body. We cannot remain stagnant. To take our education system to newer heights, we will have to continuously upgrade," Sarma said at the programme in which Cotton College was formally converted to Cotton University this afternoon.
The arch with "Cotton University" embossed on it was placed on the main gate by taking off the "Cotton College" mast last night. Sarma unveiled the arch today.
The upgrade of the century-old Cotton College to Cotton University adds up to a total of 17 universities in the state - two central, 11 state and four private universities. The move drew mixed reactions among educationists and people of the state.
Cotton College was set up in 1901 by Sir Henry John Stedman Cotton, then chief commissioner of the erstwhile British province of Assam. It was recognised as a centre of excellence in 1992 by former President Shankar Dayal Sharma.
When the Cotton University Bill, 2017 - under which the upgrade was done - was tabled in the Assembly in March this year, it evoked protests by the students of the college who feared it would malign the college's legacy.
Sarma countered this, saying: "Of course legacy is important, but to stay in the past will only put us behind at a time the world is developing so fast. By upgrading the college, we will attempt to preserve and continue the same legacy as per the new global standards." He said the university would have a separate committee for recruitment of teachers.
"Earlier, there was dearth of teaching staff in the college as recruitments were done by the state government, which took a lot of time. Now there will be an executive committee to look into it and a speedy recruitment procedure will be in place. Cotton University as of now has the highest number of teaching staff in the state which is more than 500," Sarma said.
He said the university will be a centre of excellence in higher studies. "This university, with its rich past, will become one of the top 10 universities in the nation and in the coming years a centre of excellence in Southeast Asia. However, to do so, we will have to invest more on research and development, introduce more new subjects and concentrate on foreign language studies," Sarma said.
The All Assam Students' Union (AASU), however, opposed the move. "We request the chief minister, education minister, Speaker and all representatives of the Assembly to reconsider the decision," AASU president Dipanka Kumar Nath said.
