Din in the state legislature over English; Akhil suspended for five minutes

Guwahati: The Assam legislative assembly witnessed noisy scenes and suspension of an Independent MLA during a discussion on the introduction of English as the medium of instruction for mathematics and science from Class III in government schools on the last day of the autumn session on Monday.Raising the matter, leader of the opposition in the assembly, Debabrata Saikia, said the government’s decision to teach the two subjects in English will have negative impact on the students.The ruckus started after education minister Ranoj Pegu in his reply said the decision on English as medium of instruction was in line with the new National Education Policy (NEP), which focuses on “multi-lingualism”.Saikia said this decision of the government was contradictory to the new National Education Policy (NEP), which emphasised on the mother tongue as medium of instruction for young children.AIUDF legislator Aminul Islam questioned the availability of qualified teachers for implementing the government’s decision.Independent MLA Akhil Gogoi, who protested from the well of the house for not being given time to speak on the issue, was suspended from the house for five minutes by deputy speaker Numal Momin, who was in the chair then. The legislator was escorted out of the chamber by marshals. Upon returning to the chamber after his five-minute sanction, Akhil continued his protest against the government’s decision.