Bengaluru: Hundreds of students and parents staged a demonstration in the city Monday demanding the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan in the backdrop of the NEET fiasco and the scrapping of National Testing Agency, which has been accused of leaking question papers.The protesters, gathered at Freedom Park under the banner of All-India Students Association (AISA), included teachers and elderly citizens seeking accountability and transparency in the country’s education system. They alleged the Union govt hasn’t been engaging in a dialogue with students, who have been at the receiving end of troubles because of question paper leaks and non-availability of jobs.Coming in the backdrop of student-led protests in Delhi, the demonstrators here expressed solidarity with innovator and educationist Sonam Wangchuk, who was on a hunger strike demanding educational reforms before being hospitalised.Several students raised placards, demanding answers and invoking satirical cartoons. A placard raised by a protester read, “Ee sala justice namde”, while another one representing Gen Z shouted, “Baddies want corruption-free education system”. Collectively, protesters recited Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind”. Drawing inspiration from the iconic song, a young protester screamed: “How many student suicides must it take for govt to open its eyes?”“I’ve gathered here to demand answers for the lives of innocent students lost due to paper leak. Even when I studied a few years ago, there were paper leaks; my own exam paper was leaked and there was no accountability. I don’t think much will change after this protest also, but I feel we, as youth, should express ourselves,” said Yamini Sathavalli, a former medical aspirant.Parents who gathered at the protest said the hard work put in by students has gone unrecognised. “Exams do not concern students alone, it affects the entire family. As parents, we have high hopes for our children, both my kids are engineers and till date, they are struggling to find employment. The system needs to address these challenges,” said Yashodhara Nandana, a homemaker.Gaurav Sen, a young online educator, pointed out that only on-ground action will solve the problems of students. “Until now I was active on social media and in my friends’ circle, but coming to the protest site tells those in power that we are here. The limit of patience has been tested, for almost 10 years, we have been put through systems that are failing,” he claimed.
