TEZPUR, Jan 7 - There was concern among guardians and parents after the Tezpur units of the AASU and AYJCP locked the entrance to the Don Bosco School situated near Chitralekha Udyan here on Tuesday in protest against the non-admission of students in the Assamese medium section.
There were sharp reactions after the student bodies alleged that the Don Bosco authorities were intending to shut down the Assamese section of the school and convert it into an English-medium school.
AASU and AJYCP activists of Tezpur and representatives of the Asam Sahitya Sabha, Tezpur unit, approached the Don Bosco authorities to discuss the issue of the imminent closure of the Assamese section and requested them to retain the section as they had promised earlier. But the authorities could not give any assurance to the representatives and as a result, the student bodies locked the school gate, which was later opened by the police.
A discussion was held at the Sahitya Sabha Bhawan on Wednesday regarding the steps taken by the Don Bosco authorities to shut down the Assamese medium in which members of the AASU, AYJCP, Asam Sahitya Sabha and other organisations were present, stated Arup Talukdar, secretary, Tezpur AASU unit. He added that the organisations submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner of Sonitpur in this regard.
Talukdar stated that the organisations would wait for some time to see if any action is taken by the district administration; otherwise an intense agitation would be launched against the Don Bosco authorities against the closure of the Assamese-medium section.
The Don Bosco School here was established in 1938 as an Assamese-medium school and provided free education to poor students from classes VI to VIII. Later, the English medium section was introduced in the school, which was shifted to the new campus at Nikamul.
It may be mentioned here that the steps for the closure of the Assamese section in the Don Bosco School was initiated in 2014 when Class I in the Assamese medium was terminated. In 2015, classes II and III were terminated. At that time, a delegation of the Asam Sahitya Sabha, headed by the then general secretary, Paramananda Rajbongshi, and members of AASU and other organisations, met the Don Bosco authorities. Sources at the Asam Sahitya Sabha, Tezpur unit, said that the Don Bosco authorities had at that moment agreed to reopen the Assamese section of the school.
