SFI calls for Nationwide Student Strike on 4th July
In protest of the deteriorating education system in the country, the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) calls for a one-day strike by students.
In recent weeks, the National Testing Agency (NTA) has once again demonstrated its incompetence and inefficiency in managing national-level examinations. The latest disruption involves the postponement of the NEET-PG exam, adding to the ongoing series of irregularities and discrepancies in exam management.
On June 4th, the results of NEET-UG were announced amidst issues of transparency and reports of paper leaks. Following this, the UGC-NET exam, taken by millions of students, was canceled just two days after the exam due to discrepancies and paper leak reports. Subsequently, the CSIR-NET exam scheduled for the next week was also postponed. The continuous postponements and paper leaks have led to a loss of trust in the NTA’s functioning and existence. Other examination-conducting bodies have also proven incapable of managing exams, such as the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBE) under the Ministry of Health, which recently postponed the NEET-PG exam due to paper leaks and other irregularities.
For several years, millions of students have expressed concerns about centralized exams like CUET, NEET, and JEE, which promote the privatization of education and the proliferation of coaching centers. This has made the education system inaccessible to students from marginalized communities, and the adherence to “one nation, one exam” has disrupted the examination system across the country, jeopardizing students’ academic futures.
A report in the daily newspaper “The Telegraph” states that the National Testing Agency conducts 25 government exams with only 25 permanent staff members. An education sector expert commented that the central government has overburdened the NTA by assigning it more than it can handle.
The central government has repeatedly overlooked the dire state of the NTA by holding only a few individuals accountable for its failures. Consequently, we must hold the Central Ministry of Education accountable. The consistent failures of the NTA and the Ministry of Education are due to the ongoing recruitment of unqualified and incompetent members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in these institutions.
The NTA’s repeated failures have wasted the valuable time, effort, and hard-earned money of thousands of ambitious students, creating uncertainties and excessive anxiety about their futures. Transparent and independent investigations into these examination irregularities are necessary, along with a complete overhaul of the NTA and structural changes within the Ministry of Education.
Apart from these issues in higher education, we should not forget the state of school education. Under the BJP-led NDA government, there have been significant budget cuts for relevant departments over the past decade, leading to a sharp decline in government schools, teachers, and student enrollment rates. Contrary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promises to increase “access to education,” the number of schools in India fell from 1,511,551 in 2018-19 to 1,489,115 in 2021-22. The most significant decline was in schools run by the central and state governments, with 61,361 schools closing. The ongoing reduction in government schools and the sharp rise in private schools pose a significant question about education access for marginalized communities.
In light of these circumstances, the Central Executive Committee of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) has decided to hold a nationwide student strike on July 4th. Students will boycott classes and hold rallies in every state and capital across the country, protesting against the attacks on the education system and democracy.
Through this student strike, students will raise the following demands:
- Abolish the NTA system.
- The Union Minister of Education must resign.
- Students who recently took the NET and NEET exams are entitled to compensation from the central government.
- Withdraw the recently adopted mandatory NET score system for Ph.D. admissions.
- Roll back attempts to centralize existing admission processes, which nurture admission mafias in the country.
- End the ongoing suppression of student activists, freedom of expression, and democracy in our universities, from TISS Mumbai and IIT Bombay to Hyderabad Central University.
- Stop closing schools.
We appeal to the entire student community to join the ‘nationwide strike’ on July 4, 2024.
