Guwahati : Students enrolled in Assam’s government and provincialised colleges and higher secondary schools must maintain at least 70 per cent attendance to continue receiving benefits under state government schemes and scholarships, Education Minister Ranoj Pegu said on Wednesday.

Pegu said students who fail to meet the attendance requirement could be removed from the respective schemes. The condition applies to the fee waiver scheme as well as the Nijut Moina and Nijut Babu schemes.

Speaking on the sidelines of a programme to distribute National Post-Matric Scholarships to Scheduled Tribe students, Pegu said his department had received complaints that some colleges were not providing fee waivers to eligible students after admission.

“However, as per our guidelines to continue availing the scheme, 70% attendance is mandatory,” he said. Pegu said the government had not agreed to demands for lowering the minimum attendance requirement.”In a recent visit to Gujarat, I observed that there is a condition of 80% attendance there. Here in Assam, we have not been able to approve the appeal to lower the mandatory 70% attendance mark,” he said.

Exemptions in special circumstances

The minister said principals could exempt students from the attendance requirement in special circumstances, including natural calamities, health emergencies and deaths in the family. However, he said the government did not intend to provide further relaxation in the minimum attendance requirement.

Pegu said student organisations had been asked to suggest an alternative attendance threshold if they disagreed with the 70 per cent requirement, but no such proposal had been received so far. He also clarified that students with academic backlogs would continue to be eligible for the 50 per cent fee waiver, subject to the applicable rules.

The minister urged colleges and higher secondary schools to ensure regular classes, warning that prolonged absenteeism could affect students’ academic performance and eventually their eligibility for government schemes. “If there are no regular classes, students will fail, and failing would lead to their cancellation from the scheme,” he said, adding that fee waiver funds were directly provided to institutions and their loss could also affect the institutions.

Attendance concerns across Assam

Pegu’s remarks come amid concerns over student absenteeism in the state. Earlier data indicated that around 5.5 lakh students enrolled in schools were absent from classes. The issue was also discussed at the recent two-day District Commissioners’ Conference in Jorhat, where education, including high dropout rates in secondary schools, was among the areas examined by the state government.

Meanwhile, scholarships totalling Rs 194.55 crore were distributed among 1,66,124 students under the National Post-Matric Scholarship for Scheduled Tribe students for the academic years 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26. The scholarships were distributed under the Department of Tribal Affairs (Plain).