Children of tea plantation workers at the auditions for ‘Sur Sangam — Tea Garden Student Talent Hunt in Assam’. Photo credit: Special arrangement
Classrooms in tea garden schools across eastern Assam have been echoing with music this winter, as dozens of students step into the spotlight through ‘Sur Sangam – Tea Garden Student Talent Hunt’, a State-backed initiative that blends education, culture, and quiet political messaging ahead of the Assembly elections.
District-level auditions for Sur Sangam were held on January 16 and 17 at Senairam Higher Secondary School in Tinsukia, drawing enthusiastic participation from tea garden communities. A total of 63 students, representing all 22 tea garden model schools in the district, participated after clearing school-level selections under a structured music education programme.
The initiative is a joint effort of Assam’s Department of Education (Secondary) and The Hans Foundation, North East. It is designed to nurture musical talent while promoting holistic development among students from tea garden and Adivasi backgrounds — communities that also form a crucial electoral constituency in Assam.
Sur Sangam is part of The Hans Foundation’s ‘Uttam Xikhya’ (best education) programme, which integrates formal music education into the school curriculum. Dedicated music teachers have been engaged in model schools, allowing students to explore creativity alongside academics, an approach the government has increasingly highlighted as part of its outreach to tea garden areas.
Auditions were conducted across Sonitpur, Tinsukia, and Dibrugarh districts. From these, 30 students advance to the pre-State level competition in Dibrugarh on January 21. Fifteen finalists will then compete in the grand finale in Guwahati on February 10.
Organisers stress that the programme goes beyond competition. It is positioned as a long-term talent identification and mentorship platform, aimed at building confidence, discipline and self-expression among students who have traditionally had limited access to extracurricular opportunities.
“Sur Sangam reflects our shared commitment to creating platforms where children from tea garden communities can discover and express their musical abilities. What we saw in Tinsukia clearly shows the impact of structured music education and sustained mentoring,” Reetam Kumar Sarma, senior programme manager at The Hans Foundation, said.
Mamata Hojai, Director of Education (Secondary), said the initiative aligns with the government’s broader focus on holistic education in marginalised areas. “The Government of Assam remains committed to promoting co-curricular education in tea garden schools and encouraging students to pursue creative excellence alongside academics,” Ms. Hojai said.
Beyond music, the programme signals a wider push by the Education Department to expand extracurricular activities in tea garden schools — sports, arts, and cultural platforms that opposition political parties view as a means of engaging with communities, with the Assembly election round the corner. “Tea tribes” or Adivasis are seen in Assam as a major vote bank that gravitated from Congress to the Bharatiya Janata Party.
For many students, however, the politics fades into the background. For them, Sur Sangam is simply a rare chance to be heard, to perform on bigger stages, and to imagine futures that stretch beyond the tea estates, one song at a time.
Published – January 22, 2026 05:45 pm IST
