Assam government directs around 5,000 venture schools to be removed from Midday Meal Scheme

Assam government has decided to remove all venture schools from the category of recognized/government-aided schools in the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE).

Further, all districts in Assam are hereby directed to remove these venture schools from the eligible list of PM POSHAN and stop allotment of rice to all schools effective April 2023.

As per PM POSHAN (Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman) guidelines; children studying in classes from Bal Vatika (just before Class-1) to Class-VIII in government-aided and NCLP (National Child Labour Project) schools only are covered under PM POSHAN.

With this move, around 5,000 schools including lower primary and Upper primary level schools will be impacted.

Speaking to India Today NE, Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu said, "In Assam, there was a certain category of schools which were termed as government aided which are venture schools."

Further, the minister claimed that once these schools received financial assistance from the state government, however, the same was not a continuous process.

"As a result, the PM POSHAN which is only for government-aided schools will not benefit under this scheme," said the minister.

Ranoj Pegu asserted that the venture schools of Assammshall continue to receive free textbooks from the state government.

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Reportedly following the announcement around 7670 schools in Assam will be impacted.

Earlier, with effect from March 31, 2023, the Board of Secondary Education (SEBA) has decided to revoke affiliation of up to 105 private/venture schools. As a result, from April 1, 2023, these institutions will be unable to enrol any students in class IX.

The decision was made after these 105 private/venture schools failed to reply to show cause letters given by SEBA in June and July of last year citing poor performance in the High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) and Assam High Madrassa exams, 2022.

According to SEBA, around 294 private/venture schools performed very poorly in the 2022 High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) and Assam High Madrassa exams.

Of of these 294 schools, 41 had consistently poor performance (pass% 0-10) during the previous five years.