GUWAHATI, March 2 - The Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuba-Chatra Parishad (AJYCP) has joined the chorus against the move to introduce Sanskrit as a compulsory subject till Class VII in all schools, alleging a well-orchestrated conspiracy being micro-managed and monitored from Nagpur.
In a statement, AJYCP president Biraj Kumar Talukdar charged the Government with preparing to recruit Sanskrit teachers from outside since the State lacks the required strength as of now.
�But we will not allow the outside teachers to be recruited in our schools,� said Talukdar. He said the AJYCP was never opposed to�Sanskrit in schools since it is an ancient language which needs to be promoted and preserved in schools and colleges.
�But we do express grave concern over the way the Government is in the process to impose the subject in a haste. The decision is too premature in view of the shortage of teaching staff in hundreds of schools and many of these schools have been running with one teacher,� he said.
In his statement, the AJYCP president questioned the intention behind the move when many schools have fallen short of staff and thousands of TET-qualified youths have been seeking appointment.
�Where will the Government get so many Sanskrit teachers to be recruited? This is not unknown to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. The conspiracy is being micro-managed from New Delhi and Nagpur. Lack of Sanskrit teachers at home will force the Government to hire thousands of teachers from outside,� Talukdar added.
The AJYCP demanded early steps to provide adequate teachers in all schools apart from free textbooks to the students and recruitment of all TET-qualified candidates before making Sanskrit compulsory in schools.
Talukdar maintained that the Cabinet decision was strange at a time when the Government had failed to recruit many TET-qualified candidates, and the students had hit the streets demanding free textbooks.
Meanwhile, the Asamiya Sahitya Sanmilani on Thursday resented the decision of the State Government to make Sanskrit compulsory for students up to Class VIII as an imprudent one. It has demanded a dialogue involving all ethnic literary bodies of the State to arrive at a conclusion on such issues.
In a statement here, the Sanmilani has said that this decision will make the students of the State face severe hardships. Particularly those students, whose mother tongues have not originated from Sanskrit, will face more serious problems.
The present stance of the State Government is contrary to the three-language policy for school students, which has been approved of by the country's Constitution too.
The Chattra Mukti Sangram Samiti has flayed the State Government�s decision. The decision has been taken only to facilitate the translation into reality of the Education Minister�s dream to become the Chief Minister with the blessings of the RSS, it alleged.
