Assam Assembly Passes Teacher Staff Provincialisation Amendment & Fee Regulation Bill

The Assam Legislative Assembly on Saturday passed the Teacher and Employee Post Provincialisation Amendment Bill, along with the Fee Regulation Bill, paving the way for provincialisation of posts but not the institutions themselves.

Educati-on Minister Dr. Ranoj Pegu, while presenting the details in the House, clarified that the base year for provincialisation will remain unchanged. “The base year continues to be 1 January 2006,” he said.

At present, Assam has 55,198 educational institutions across the state. The minister stressed that the new legislation does not aim to provincialise schools but only the posts of teachers and staff.

Venture Madrassas Left Out

Venture madrassas were excluded from the provincialisation framework. These institutions had earlier been converted from madrassa status to general category schools.
AIUDF MLAs protested strongly in the Assembly over the exclusion, following which all AIUDF legislators were suspended.

Relaxation of Conditions for Provincialisation

The amendment bill introduces certain relaxations in eligibility criteria for provincialisation:

• While conditions have been eased, the base year remains unchanged.

• For high schools, approval of Class 9 will now be sufficient for teacher post provincialisation.

• For LP schools, approval of Class 4 or Class 5 will be accepted.

• In all cases, the necessary permissions must have been granted before the base year.

In colleges, provincialisation will now be implemented as per departments and streams, a provision that will similarly apply to Higher Secondary Schools (HSS).

Major Changes in Fee Regulation

Addressing fee hikes in private educational institutions, especially in panchayat areas, the minister announced a 25% reduction in the upper fee limit for private-sector schools in rural regions.

Christian missionary institutions will also come under the purview of the Fee Regulation Authority. Assam currently has 278 Christian missionary institutions, and the move follows previous directives of the High Court.

These reforms and regulatory steps were formally announced in the Assembly by Education Minister Dr. Ranoj Pegu.

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