GUWAHATI, April 2 - The State government introduced the Assam Non-Government Educational Institutions (Regulation and Management) (Amendment) Bill, 2018, in the Legislative Assembly today.
The Bill, introduced by Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary on behalf of Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, seeks to amend the Assam Non-Government Educational Institutions (Regulation and Management) Act, 2006.
As per the statement of objects and reasons of the Bill, it seeks amendments with regard to modification of some existing terms and definition of other terms, to make penal provision in realization of registration fees in case of default institutions, to fix the area of land holding for different categories of institutions, to make provisions for separate toilets for boys and girls, to provide parking arrangement for use of the institution, and to make provision for schools to have disaster management plan and necessity for obtaining certificate from the Disaster Management Authority.
Among other amendments suggested are to make a new provision that the teaching and non-teaching staff of the institutions shall not be paid less than the norms fixed by the appropriate authority, the teachers shall have to be qualified as per the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) and as per norms fixed under respective service rules framed by the State government, to make provision that the students admitted against reserved quota shall pay such fees as fixed by the appropriate authority, and to make a new provision that the State government shall be the appellate authority against the order passed by the director.
As per the proposed legislation, in case of failure of any institution to �register the institution under sub-section (1) of section 6 within the stipulated period, the institution shall be allowed registration on payment of the fees with 50 per cent increase of prescribed rate, provided the institution is registered within a period of one year from the date of coming into force of this amendment Act.
�In the event of failure of any institution to register within one year as stipulated... the director shall issue notice to close down the institution in a phased manner that there shall not be any admission in lowest class of the school from the next academic year and such institution shall be completely closed down after passing out of the highest class of the institution.�
As per the proposed minimum land holding in the Bill, for lower primary (LP) and middle English (ME) level schools the minimum land area sought to be fixed is �two bighas of land in one plot� in case of rural areas and �one bigha of land in one plot� in municipal and town committee areas, including Guwahati, while for high school, higher secondary school and senior secondary school it is at least �five bighas of land in one plot� in rural areas, �three bighas of land in one plot� in municipal and town committee areas, and �two bighas of land in one plot� in GMC and GMDA areas.
As per the Bill, �All the non-government educational institutions registered under this Act shall provide adequate safety measures including fire safety measures in the institution premises and shall hold mock drills for preparedness for meeting any disaster at regular intervals... A certificate from the Disaster Management Authority shall have to be furnished as regards availability of adequate safety measures including fire safety measures in the school.�
