The Assam government is considering halting the recruitment of teachers in colleges and merging institutions or certain departments within them where student enrollment is low. This move aligns with the government’s policy of amalgamating schools with low enrollment numbers, Ranoj Pegu, education minister, Assam, said. In a post on X, Pegu stated that the Higher Education Department held a meeting with the principals and governing body presidents of 79 colleges with less than 500 enrollments to discuss strategies for increasing enrollment. Pegu emphasized that improving the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in higher education is a top priority for the government.
Consequently, the minister instructed the higher education department to develop a merger policy for colleges or departments with low student numbers, similar to the one implemented by the school education department. The government aims to merge colleges or departments with low enrollment and cease the recruitment of teachers for vacancies in such departments.
Over the past few years, the Assam government has closed down numerous schools through the process of amalgamation. This process involves merging schools for various reasons, including low student numbers, inadequate infrastructure, unfavorable pupil-teacher ratios, and high operational costs.
With inputs from PTI.