Lucknow: The 17th UP state conference of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) began on Saturday in Lucknow, bringing together students and teachers to discuss how inequality, caste discrimination, and growing privatisation are denying students, especially children of farmers and labourers, their right to education.The conference focused on the failure to implement the UGC equity guidelines, which aim to ensure equal opportunities, scholarships and basic facilities. Participants noted the lack of libraries, shortage of books, shrinking scholarships, closure of govt schools, repeated postponement of examinations, discrimination and paper leaks as major issues weakening public education. All-India general secretary of SFI, Aishe Ghosh said, “The crisis in education results from deliberate policy choices. When scholarships are cut and govt institutions are neglected, it is the children of farmers, workers and minorities who are pushed out first.” All-India SFI president Adarsh M Saji said, ” UGC guidelines mandate equal rights for all students, yet those opposing them seem more concerned with maintaining campus superiority.”
