Protest Against Education Mafia
B.Ed. College Classes Organized on Streets
AISA, RYA, and Chhatra RJD organized ‘Sadak Par B.Ed College’ (B.Ed College on the Street) in front of the Bhojpur DM’s office to protest against the protection to the education mafia by the Nitish-Modi government and the financial exploitation of B.Ed students. Com. Manoj Manzil, CC member of the CPI (ML) also addressed those who had come to attend the programme.
The government has washed its hands of its Constitutional and democratic responsibility of providing education to Bihar’s B.Ed students. This responsibility has been handed over to the education mafia. Who collect a hefty fee from the students but do not provide even the basic facilities in their colleges. There are 4 or 5 teachers where there should be 15. There is a dire shortage of classrooms, libraries, laboratories, toilets, and drinking water, but using their political clout they get NCTE approval and University affiliation, and extort huge fees from the students. Colleges have even been opened under the name of fake Trusts so that they do not have to pay tax to the Government. They have provided false affidavits in the High Court that they provide all the required facilities in their colleges. The Court has asked the University to enquire into the matter and said that if their claims to providing facilities are correct and if they fulfill the NCTE standards, they can charge a maximum fee of Rs 150,000 per student. The University has not even formed any Committee so far, but the B.Ed College mafia has already declared that exam forms cannot be filled unless the students first pay Rs 150,000.
It is to be noted that this verdict came on 20 June 2018; this High Court verdict does not apply to the protesting students of the academic year 2016-18 and 2017-19 because they got admission before the verdict was pronounced. The students fought a long battle against this and after a 6-day hunger strike in the University the VC gave a written agreement that exam forms would be filled with payment of Rs 95,000. But the education mafia refused to abide by this order of the University.
The Bhojpur DM also expressed his inability to do anything in the matter as it was in the High Court. It is clear from the statements of the DM and the VC that the nexus between the Government, politicians, administration, and B.Ed mafia is very strong. Thus, students from poor, dalit, and economically weaker backgrounds will not be able to become teachers. Their talent will be killed and wasted, education will become entirely a market commodity, and the education merchants will become rich by selling this commodity.
AISA, RYA, CPI (ML) activists have been carrying forward the ‘Sadak Par School’ campaign demanding quality government schools for all.
