Lucknow: Members of the Samajwadi Party in the Vidhan Parishad took up the issue of basic education under rule 105, saying that its standards were falling in UP. MLC Ashutosh Sinha spoke about teachers and shiksha mitras being used for all kinds of non-teaching activities, suggesting that the govt thought their role as teachers was not important. “They are used for census work, SIR and other work. In addition to this, they also asked for the restoration of the old pension scheme, but the govt paid no attention to this demand,” he said.
MLC Man Singh Yadav alleged that in the past seven years, 36,000 primary schools were closed in the state. More than 1.2 lakh posts of primary teachers were lying vacant, while in secondary schools, more than 4,000 posts of assistant teachers were vacant, he said. Sandeep Singh, minister of state for basic education, denied the SP’s charges, saying that no school was closed in UP. His statement led SP members to boycott the session for a short duration. The minister said that only those schools where there were fewer than 50 students were merged. He highlighted schemes being implemented in basic education schools, like the Nipun scheme, with focus on language and mathematics, and the School Chalo Abhiyan to ensure that the maximum number of students were attending class. Various schemes were also introduced for teachers, such as a cashless treatment scheme, and the govt was committed to ensuring their welfare at every level, the minister claimed.
