Agartala, January 20: In a strong display of dissent, members of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and Tribal Students’ Union (TSU), both leftist student organizations, staged a protest in Agartala on Monday against the closure of schools and other students related issues by the BJP-led government in Tripura.
The protesters criticized the government’s decision to shut down schools on the grounds of insufficient student enrollment, terming it as illogical and detrimental to the welfare of students.
The protestors demanded the immediate filling of vacant teaching posts, citing a severe shortage of educators in the state.
They highlighted that over 310 government schools are operating with only a single teacher, while hundreds of TET-qualified candidates remain unemployed. They questioned why the government has failed to recruit these qualified teacher aspirants despite the acute crisis in schools.
Raising concerns over the Vidyajyoti school initiative introduced by the BJP government in 2018, the protestors pointed out the poor academic results of these schools.
They argued that converting state board schools to CBSE-affiliated English medium institutions under the Vidyajyoti scheme had failed to fulfill its promise of providing quality education, even in reputed schools in Agartala the results were very poor.
They called for an investigation into the reasons behind declining student enrollments in government schools.
The protesters also alleged that the government is using the pretext of low enrollment to close schools and hand over the government infrastructure to BJP leaders for setting up private institutions, effectively promoting privatization in the education sector.
Further grievances were raised regarding the delay and reduction in scholarship funds for SC, ST, and OBC students, which the protestors claimed had deprived many of their rightful support.
Addressing the broader impact of the government’s policies, the protestors stated that Tripura, which was once among the top-performing states in education during the Left Front regime, is now grappling with rising drug addiction and HIV/AIDS cases under the BJP government.
The rally, which began at Paradise Chowmuhani, concluded with a demonstration in front of Shiksha Bhavan. A delegation of protestors tried met with the Higher Education Director to submit a charter of demands but were not allowed.
The student organizations warned of statewide protests if their demands, including addressing the teacher shortage, halting school closures, and ensuring timely scholarship disbursement, are not met promptly.
