Student org stages protest against 4 year degree, NEP

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: All India Democratic Students Organisation (AIDSO) staged a protest at Freedom Park in Bengaluru on Thursday, demanding that the fouryear undergraduate degree course be withdrawn from the state.

Structural changes such as the four year course were introduced as a part of the Union government’s 2020 National Education Policy (NEP).

The Congress in the lead up to last May’s Assembly election had promised to overturn the NEP and institute a State Education Policy (SEP).

The Congress came to power and set up the Karnataka State Education Policy (SEP) commission.

The SEP report was supposed to be out by March but nothing has been forthcoming as of yet. AIDSO state vice president Abhaya Diwakar demanded that the Congress make good on its promise.

“The Congress government promised to withdraw the NEP and implement the SEP in the background of AIDSO's strong resistance movement against it. The voice of the committee in the zonal level meetings organised by SEP commission was that there should be no four year degree but it is reprehensible that the government is continuing its intransigent attitude by ignoring the opinion of all students, lecturers, academicians, vice-chancellors and student organizations. It is imperative to wage a strong struggle against the government, which is making our poor students its victims and this must continue until all the recommendations of the NEP are withdrawn,” she said.

Hanamanthu, also an AIDSO state vice president, said the current State government had promised to reduce the four year degree to three years for all students during the Assembly elections but the delay in announcing its decision on the four-year degree course left students disappointed.

He called upon the students to protest to change the status quo. AIDSO state president Ashwini KS, state secretary Ajay Kamath, state vice presidents Apoorva and Chandrakala, state treasurer Subhash BJ and students from different districts across the state participated in the protest.