Kolkata, Jan 12 (NationPress) The Student’s Federation of India (SFI), which is the student wing of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), has declared plans for a large-scale demonstration on January 27 to voice concerns about the declining quality of school education in West Bengal, as indicated by a recent report from the Union government.
According to SFI's state secretary for West Bengal, Debanjan Dey, “On January 27, SFI will be staging a march to 'Bikash Bhavan', the headquarters of the state school education department located in Salt Lake, on the northern periphery of Kolkata.”
“The Central report highlights that approximately 8,000 state-run and state-aided schools in West Bengal have been shut down, with 3,254 of these schools having no students enrolled. Furthermore, 6,366 of these schools are staffed by only a single teacher. Rather than addressing these issues, the state education minister has proposed the merging of various state-run schools, which will likely lead to a further reduction in their numbers.
“Thus, we have resolved to march to ‘Bikash Bhavan’ on January 27 to formally express our grievances regarding these matters,” Dey informed the media on Saturday.
Dey pointed out that recently, state-aided schools have begun charging extra fees since the state government has ceased its subsidy support.
“While the state government is hosting a students' week that consumes funds, it neglects to allocate necessary resources for enhancing school education infrastructure. Millions of rupees are being wasted on honoring celebrities,” Dey claimed.
At the conclusion of the march to 'Bikash Bhavan' on January 27, an SFI delegation will present a proposed school education policy to the state education minister.
“Simultaneously, we will be delivering a symbolic mark-sheet from the state school education department, which will score a zero out of ten,” Dey added.
