AISA campaign reaches Azamgarh; students' group president raises voice against NEP 2020

AZAMGARH: The All India Students' Association (AISA) is mobilising students against the "selling of education" through the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, its national president Neha said on Sunday. She was speaking at a gathering of students as part of the 'Gen-Z Mahajutan Yatra' to raise education and employment issues.

The activist reached Azamgarh on Sunday after staying in Prayagraj and Varanasi. The public meeting was held at Nehru Hall, where Neha, AISA Uttar Pradesh president Manish, vice-president Sonali Yadav, and CPI(Marxist-Leninist) leader Jai Prakash Narayan addressed the gathering.

"This journey is a mobilisation against the policy of selling education through NEP 2020," Neha said, alleging that government schools were being closed, as she demanded more teachers, laboratories and libraries in every school.

Manish alleged that lakhs of teaching posts were vacant in the state, but no recruitment was being done. He also alleged that student unions were banned in universities to prevent students from raising issues such as joblessness.

Education and employment are "two parts of the same struggle", he said. Narayan said Azamgarh had been a centre of resistance against British rule, and alleged that education and democracy are facing a "new attack" now.

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Students' voices are being suppressed, alleges AISA

AISA Azamgarh convener Abhishek alleged that students' voices are being suppressed on campuses in the district, including DAV and Shibli, and cited a case against Vivek Yadav as an example. "We will take this struggle from campuses to villages," he said. The AISA's Uttar Pradesh chapter announced the 'Gen-Z Mahajutan Yatra' in August as part of its nationwide 'Gen Z Rising' campaign.

The outfit seeks to raise issues concerning education, employment and social justice and provide a platform for students and young people.

Neha emerged as a prominent face of the student agitation at Jantar Mantar earlier this year, where she undertook a 23-day hunger strike over examination irregularities and seeking Pradhan's resignation. The protest subsequently spread to other parts of the country.