AIFRTE demands withdrawal of CCS rules
Source: The Sangai Express
Imphal, August 30 2020:
The All India Forum For Right to Education (AIFRTE), a federal platform of 80 plus students, teachers and educational rights organizations from 22 States and UTs, said they have learnt that in certain parts of the country, particularly the North East, the State Governments are invoking the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules to prevent or intimidate the teaching community from protesting against the educational policies, particularly the NEP 2020 .
This new policy aims at centralising, corporatising and communalising the entire education system, thereby leading to massive exclusion of children belonging to the oppressed classes and castes from schools, stated AIFRTE in a release.
"The teaching community all over India as one of the crucial stakeholders, in both school and higher education, is agitated as the policy is going to adversely affect the generations of students and teachers," it said.
"Teaching community should not be treated like the other civil services.
It is a community which has to enjoy freedom to shape the young minds and provide role models to the younger generation in order to enable them fulfill their duty as citizens within the framework of the Constitution.
The Governments should also realise that teachers as a citizen enjoy Constitutionally guaranteed freedoms under Article 19(1)," it said.
"We urge upon the teaching community to refuse to be intimidated and assert their fundamental right to protest as it constitutes a part of their fundamental duties as well," AIFRTE added.
AIFRTE demanded the concerned State Governments to immediately withdraw such repressive anti-Constitution measures in the interest of education and democratic future of India.