Guwahati, Aug. 1: College teachers have decided to take extra classes to make up the loss the students in Bodoland Territorial Areas District are likely to suffer because of extension of their summer vacation following the recent violence.
The Assam College Teachers' Association (ACTA) said the summer vacation should be extended till the situation in Kokrajhar, Baksa, Chirang and Dhubri districts becomes normal and students return to their homes from relief camps.
Dispur had on Monday extended the summer vacation of schools and colleges by a week. The educational institutions were scheduled to reopen today after a monthlong summer vacation but will now open on August 7.
ACTA general secretary Jyoti Kamal Hazarika, who recently led a delegation of college teachers to the riot-affected areas, said a majority of the colleges in BTAD had turned into relief camps and the few that had not could not start classes under the present circumstances.
The BTAD has nine degree colleges, including a government college in Kokrajhar district, and three venture colleges.
"The ACTA has held detailed discussions with its members in Kokrajhar, Chirang and Baksa districts. It has appealed to all its members to do whatever they can to make up the academic loss of students once the classes start. Teachers of the violence-hit areas have agreed to spend extra hours to make up the loss and finish the courses in time," Hazarika said.
Hazarika said the ACTA would take out silent processions in all the districts of the state on Saturday to demand a high-level judicial inquiry into the root cause of the violence, campaign for peace and tranquillity in BTAD and seek measures on a war-footing to rehabilitate the victims.
The education department has started discussing with unions of college and schools teachers to find out ways to compensate the academic losses of students.
"Going by the present state of affairs in BTAD, the summer vacation will have to be extended beyond August 7. Unless school and college teachers take additional classes later, students are bound to suffer this academic year," an education department official said.
Official sources said there were 261 relief camps in the area of which nearly 200 were in schools (lower primary, middle English and high schools) and colleges in Dhubri, Kokrajhar and Chirang districts. About four lakh displaced people are lodged in these camps. These include nearly one lakh students, mostly studying in primary and middle schools.