By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR:A massive student protest was held today in front of the state assembly by AIDSO with the following 10 main demands: to provide error-free textbooks with science-based curriculum, to immediately fill the required posts of teachers, lecturers and education staff in all schools, colleges and universities in the state on a permanent basis, to immediately reopen all closed government schools, to completely abolish the NT, which is a hotbed of corruption, to cancel the undemocratic, anti-student ‘Model Code of Conduct’, to immediately announce the date for direct student parliament elections in colleges and universities, to provide ‘free bus passes’ to all students, to stop the increasing attacks on children, girls, students and women and ensure their safety, to immediately stop the propagation of obscenity, bad culture, liquor and drugs, and to completely cancel the anti-education National Education Policy 2020.
Thousands of students from different parts of the state came to a well-decorated patio holding placards, banners and photos of great men and women. Along with this, the students performed many revolutionary songs at the protest site. A delegation led by AIDSO State President Somnath Behera from the student protest site presented a commemorative letter to the Chief Minister. Addressing a protest meeting held at the student protest site under the presidency of AIDSO Odisha State Secretary Siddhartha Rath, the student leaders said that currently, a deep conspiracy is going on in the state to destroy the foundation of education by filling illogical, unscientific, fabricated and ill-conceived content in the textbooks from class 1 to 8.
Due to the faulty language policy, mother tongue and English language education have been neglected. On the other hand, thousands of teacher and faculty posts from primary to university level are lying vacant while the present teachers are being engaged in extra-curricular activities. Efforts are being made to close educational institutions on the pretext of free education from KG to PG. Privatization and commercialization of education is being promoted by closing government schools.
Along with this, incidents like question paper leaks, corruption in examinations, suspension of student council elections in colleges and universities and endangerment of the safety of students and women due to drugs and bad culture have devastated the entire education and social environment. In this situation, student leaders in their speeches asked the government to immediately fulfill the demands raised by AIDSO and the student society.
If the government does not take immediate and appropriate steps on these legitimate demands, then AIDSO has clearly warned from the protest site that more student movements will be organized and organized across the state in the coming days. State Vice President Bhagyagirvi Das, Nirupama Behera, Sunil Bhoi, Office Editor Nasim Sarkar, Paramananda Sahu, Vinod Sethi, Saptarshini Raul, Ayutsa Sahu, Nimayn Charan Sahu, Narayan Nayak, Madhusudan Naik, Harekrushna Das, Prashant Das, Tarunsen Nayak, Phulachand Lohar, Isha Dhar, Madhusudan Bagh, Narayan Sahu, Parvathi Mallick along with students from various colleges, universities and schools delivered speeches at the protest rally.
