Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], June 20 : Akhilesh Yadav, the national president of the Samajwadi Party and Former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, on Friday expressed deep concern over the state of the teachers and the education department in UP.
Addressing a press conference, Yadav emphasised the importance of education and the role of teachers in shaping society.
"Recently, through newspapers, we have seen government decisions that have deeply worried us. We are concerned because if education is deliberately destroyed as part of a conspiracy, what will become of our society? We all know that Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) was a teacher himself. And being a teacher, that identity within him never faded, whether it was the Legislative Assembly or Parliament, he always tried to explain things. On political platforms too, you must have noticed that he appeared as a teacher, guiding, scolding when necessary, and always showing the way forward," Yadav said.
"People often label us as a 'parivaar-vaad party,' but being the son of a teacher, I share a familial bond with every teacher. Their pain is my pain. Those who have worked with us know that whenever the Samajwadi Party got a chance, we made sincere efforts to resolve the issues teachers faced." Yadav stated.
Yadav criticised the BJP government for ignoring teachers' concerns despite their peaceful protests and court cases, "Behind me are posters representing teachers who have been protesting for years, trying to raise their voices to the government. Despite their peaceful efforts, even going to court, the government continues to ignore them. It seems like when the government looks at teachers, it turns blind. It turns deaf. That's why I want to say this: the sooner teachers and parents of students realise that the BJP government is anti-education and anti-teacher, and that due to the BJP, the future of our children is heading toward darkness, the sooner the groundwork for change will be laid."
"The BJP is regressive. They know that educated people ask questions. Educated people oppose divisive politics. That's why they want fewer schools, so there will be fewer voices of dissent. Educated people demand jobs. If government jobs exist, reservations have to be implemented. But the BJP is against reservations; hence, jobs are not even on their agenda. I urge BJP not to push teachers and government employees to a point where mass protests erupt and disrupt every sector." Yadav alleged.
Claiming that the BJP government heartless, Yadav alleged, "The BJP government always adopts an indifferent attitude towards the problems of teachers and staff. This is a heartless government. We have said this many times. Whenever it's time for them to make a decision, we have seen this government lacks empathy."
The SP leader highlighted the issue of online attendance, citing infrastructure and transportation problems faced by teachers. "During the protest against online attendance, we said that only by trusting teachers can we raise a better generation. No teacher wants to arrive late to school. But what about the infrastructure? No teacher wants to be late, but inadequate public transportation, closed railway crossings, or the 50-kilometre distance from home to school make it difficult. Teachers often don't have government accommodation near schools, nor are there rental houses available in remote areas. This leads to unnecessary stress, and in a mental state of anxiety, some teachers have met with fatal accidents. There are many such examples. In emergencies, if a teacher has to leave school early due to personal or family reasons, it is reported as a full-day absence. This is exploitation; anyone in the education department knows it."
Yadav alleged exploitation of teachers, including corruption in transfer postings, and claimed that the government's policies are pushing teachers and government employees towards mass protests.
"Many of our colleagues have told us how they are being exploited. During a public hearing, a teacher came to us and shared his dilemma. He was talking about the corruption in transfer postings, telling us the 'rate' for getting transferred. How many lakhs? There can be many reasons for arriving late or leaving early, from power outages to internet issues that affect online systems. So, without solving these practical problems, digital attendance is not feasible. When the internet doesn't work, how can you rely on digital systems? You want to force everything onto that system? Why not implement it first in the administrative departments where it is truly needed? Let the senior and top officials be subject to digital attendance too. Their own attendance records will show how often they are actually present," he said.
Yadav praised teachers for forcing the government to suspend its decision on digital attendance, saying "Effective learning requires an emotional connection between students and teachers. Spending a fixed number of hours in school does not automatically mean good teaching, and forced teaching doesn't produce good results. Eventually, due to the collective unity of teachers, the BJP government had to suspend its internal decision on digital/online attendance. Public pressure forced them to roll it back. The voice of the people is the supreme command, not the will of the rulers. I congratulate the teachers for this moral victory. I hold teachers in the highest respect. And whenever the Samajwadi Party gets an opportunity, we will stand firmly with teachers and work to support them."
On Tuesday, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav asserted that the INDIA bloc remains intact and will unitedly contest the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections in 2027.
He said that the opposition was not bothered by statements made by "others" regarding the situation of the INDIA bloc and that those who want to leave the alliance are free to do so.
"We don't care about statements made by others. Our INDIA alliance is intact...Those who want to leave the alliance are free to do so. The INDIA bloc will fight the 2027 UP Assembly elections," Yadav told reporters during a press conference.