The Bengaluru District Committee of All India Democratic Students' Organisation (AIDSO) organised a protest at Freedom Park, Bengaluru, highlighting several problems arising in Karnataka’s higher education sector.
The delegates said that the number of admissions to government higher educational institutions has fallen drastically over the years, pointing towards a deteriorating state of education.
Speaking to EdexLive, Abhaya Diwakar, AIDSO Bengaluru District President, explained, “In Karnataka, two years ago, if there were 200 admissions in government degree colleges, it has reduced to 90 last year and this year, not even 30 admissions transpired. This has been the fate of degree colleges since NEP (National Education Policy) 2020 was implemented in the state.”
AIDSO also highlighted that the students have not received the state scholarship for over two years now.
Moreover, the students highlighted that in many government institutions like Maharani's Cluster University and Nrupatunga University, the tuition fee has been hiked and a number of self-financing courses are being introduced.
“Some self-financing courses have been introduced in colleges like Data Studies, Artificial Intelligence (AI), which cost around Rs 35,000. This kind of fee hike in government colleges is discouraging students from seeking higher education,” Abhaya added.
The student group has been holding protests in colleges and hostels across the state in various ways for a week starting from July 21. Today, on Tuesday, July 27, AIDSO staged a protest in Bengaluru marking the last day of ‘All Karnataka Students' Protest Week’.
More than 70 students were present at the protest.
Students have demanded a withdrawal of fee hikes in government institutions, immediate release of SSP scholarships, hostel facilities and scholarships, and de-privatisation of government institutions like the University of Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE).
AIDSO District Secretary Kalyan Kumar, said in a statement, “This is an alarming development that thousands of students are staying away from education. Lack of basic facilities in government degree colleges, scholarship, non-availability of adequate bus facility according to the number of students, lack of teachers to conduct classes adequately, all these are putting a damper on the dreams of the students.
AIDSO has demanded that the state government take immediate action against the issues highlighted by the student group.