JOINT FORUM FOR MOVEMENT ON EDUCATION: 21.2.2020

Dear  Friends,

As you are aware, the Joint Forum for Movement on Education, is an umbrella organisation representing Associations of University and College Teachers, School Teachers, Non-Teaching University Employees, Students, Parents and other organisations working for scientific and democratic education. For the last several years, the various constituents of JFME have been struggling against a slew of policy attacks by the Central Government on public-funded education in terms of withdrawal of funding, hollowing out of academic and scientific content and subversion of its democratic and inclusive character. The JFME has attempted to bring these struggles together on one platform. In October 2018, JFME held a National Convention that adopted a resolution and a Charter of Demands. This was followed by a massive People’s March on 19th February 2019, and a joint memorandum to the Prime Minister and to leaders of various political parties.

With the Draft National Education Policy brought out by the MHRD in June 2019, having centralisation, de-regulation, commercialisation and exclusion as its leit motif, the policy attacks have taken on a more coordinated and sinister shape that will clearly sound the death-knell of public-funded education in India.

Recent policy measures, implemented under the three-year agenda of the Niti Ayog without wider debate or scrutiny, that have been pushing Universities and Colleges into a self-financing mode, include the Regulations on Graded Autonomy and Autonomous Colleges, the replacement of grants by loans from the Higher Education Funding Agency (HEFA), the HECI Bill (that will replace the UGC with a body under the direct control of Government, with draconian monitoring powers but no role in giving grants) and a Tripartite MOU that all Central Universities have been coerced to sign (under which Universities have to generate resources to pay back loans by raising students fees). Combined with severe budgetary cuts, a sharp reduction in UGC grant to State Universities, large scale closure of government schools, withdrawal of funding from research bodies (especially Centres for Studies on Exclusion based on gender, caste and community), curtailment of scholarships and fellowships, massive fee hikes and dilution of the Reservation Policies in open violation of the Constitutional mandate, this policy assault is putting quality education beyond the reach of most Indians, especially those from marginalised sections, Dalits, tribals, women and the differently-abled. As a result of these policies, lakhs of teaching and non-teaching posts are lying vacant. Permanent appointments, promotions and pensions have been held up for years.

Along with the above, there is direct interference in academic functioning by imposition of uniform courses and curriculum through CBCS, and an academically counter-productive semester system. Syllabi and text books, orientation and refresher courses, lists of journals, etc. are being tailored to promote obscurantist, unscientific and communal content that threaten our core Constitutional values.

Resistance to the above is sought to be crushed through systematic attacks on Unions, organised violence, filing of false cases, arbitrary arrests and the imposition of Civil Service Rules to curb academic freedom and dissent in Universities. The recent attacks on Jamia, JNU, AMU by the police or by anti-social elements aided by the police, and cases of sedition arbitrarily imposed on peacefully dissenting students and teachers are posing a fresh threat not only to our Universities but also to the secular and democratic principles guaranteed by our Constitution .

The JFME plans to have an All – India Convention on “Education and the Constitution”, on 25th February, 2020, from 10.30 am to 4 pm, at the Gandhi Peace Foundation, Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi, in which people from across the country will be participating, to create a nationwide movement to defend scientific, democratic, affordable, quality public-funded education for all.

We invite you to participate in the Convention.

With warm regards,

Arun Kumar,
Gen Secy AIFUCTO   

Rajib Ray,
President FEDCUTA

Coordinators JFME


Nandita Narain,                    AK Mohanty, 
Chairperson JFME              Convener JFME

JOINT FORUM FOR MOVEMENT ON EDUCATION

All India Federation of University and College Teachers’ Organization, Federation of Central University Teachers’ Association, All India Federation of Retired University and College Teachers’ Organization, All India University Employees Confederation, School Teachers’ Federation of India, All India Secondary Teachers’ Federation, All India Federation of Elementary Teachers’ Organization, Indian Public Service Employees Federation, All India Primary Teachers’ Federation. (AIPTF), All India Federation of Educational Association, Delhi University and College Karamcharis Union, All India Forum for Right to Education, All-India Save Education Committee, All India People’s Science Network, Students’ Organisations (AIDSO, AIMSA, AIBSA, AGS, AIPSU, AISA, AISF, CYSS, DISHA, KYS, NEFIS, NSUI, SFI)