2-day national teachers’ meet concludes with call for unity

The two-day National Conference of the All India Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organisations (AIFUCTO) concluded today, issuing a call for unity among teachers across the country.

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During the closing ceremony, Arun Kumar, national general secretary of the AIFUCTO, spoke about the resolutions passed during the conference, stating that governments in the era of new liberal policies were progressively retracting their support from higher education.

He mentioned that the new UGC draft aggressively focusses on providing minimal benefits to teachers, starting with the appointment of vice-chancellors. Kumar emphasised that the democratic rights teachers have earned up to this point were the direct result of their prolonged struggle. He urged that during this difficult period it was essential for teachers across the country to unite on a large scale to protect the existence of public educational institutions in higher education.

Furthermore, he noted that after the implementation of liberal policies, the Central government had been systematically cutting the budget for higher education, with the intention of reducing it to zero. He highlighted the non-appointment of regular teachers and the reduction of government funding from 80% to 50% as clear examples of this trend.

Dr M Nagarjuna, president of AIFUCTO, while addressing the challenges faced by higher education, stated that the main aim of the government’s new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 was to implement its Hindu nationalist agenda. As a result, democratic and impartial educational policies in the higher education sector were currently facing a crisis. He further criticised the government’s policies, which aimed to dismantle public educational institutions and place higher education entirely in the hands of private institutions.

Vinay Sophat, vice-president of AIFUCTO and the conference’s organising secretary, presented the report for the second and final day of the conference, stating that higher education in Punjab was currently going through its worst phase. He pointed out that while the new or old pension schemes had been implemented across the country, Punjab remained the only state where the scheme had not been implemented. He also mentioned that several states offer a 100% grant or 95% in other regions, whereas the grant for aided colleges in Punjab had been reduced from 95% to 75%.

Sophat emphasised the fact that it was tragic that the Seventh Pay Commission had still not been fully implemented in Punjab. He also expressed concern that neither the Central government, nor the Punjab government was willing to discuss higher education policies together on a unified platform for the benefit of people.

Seema Jetley, president of PCCTU, explained that since the implementation of the new education policy delegates from various universities and colleges across the country had presented 72 research-filled papers on the challenges being faced by higher education.