Gauhati HC stays Assam govt's decision to remove 'Moktab' word from elementary school

On June, the Office of the Director of Elementary Education had earlier decided to drop ‘Moktab’ from the name of elementary schools in Assam. This directly affects the Moktab Primary School situated in Jorhat, one of the oldest primary schools in the state.

Following this, a writ petition was filed before the Hon'ble Gauhati High Court wherein the notification issued by Govt to remove the word "Moktab" was challenged as well as the notification issued to Jorhat Moktab Adarsha Primary School to remove the word "Moktab" from the signboards. Now, the Court has passed an interim stay on the notice for removal of the word "Moktab" from the signage of Jorhat Moktab Adarsha Primary School.

The petition said that the school confined to elementary education. It also said that many great personalities passed out from these Moktab schools and even the present Chief Secretary is an ex pupil of that school.

A brief glance

The school was established in 1896 and has celebrated its completion of more than 100 years. It was originally established by social workers and teachers. The alumni includes Babul Nath Goswami who received the first President award in 1959, Madan Bezbaruah, first IAS, former Assam CM Tarun Gogoi and current secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna.

Also read: Assam: COVID-19 patients take to streets alleging ‘no-food’ in care centre

What’s in the name?

As per conventional wisdom, Maktab or Maktabkhaneh, also called Al Kottab, is an Arabic word meaning elementary schools. Until the 20th century, maktabs were the only means of mass education in much of the Islamic world. While in Arabic, Maktab refers to only elementary school, the word Maktab is also used in Persian language in Afghanistan and is an equivalent term to school, comprising both the primary and secondary schooling.

However, as for the case of this school, sources close to the school dismiss any contemporary connection with preaching Islamic ideals. The name originates from the aforementioned meaning which the founding figures gave but over the course of time, the curriculum has changed.

Following this uproar by the locals, this raises an important. Why does the Assam government want to change the name of primary school? Is it important to change the name of an institution with a cultural history if the syllabus is in synch with modern education?

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