Itanagar: The Arunachal Pradesh Youth Congress (APYC) has asked education minister Taba Tedir to apologize to the teaching fraternity of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA) for his “SSA damaged the education system of the state” remark.
According to the Youth Congress, the minister had made the remark while addressing a students’ union foundation day event in Kra Daadi district recently.
The APYC in a statement on Monday said “instead of taking responsibility for the state’s bad performance in the education sector, the BJP government is shouldering the responsibility on the SSA teachers and is trying to come up with excuses over its failure to regularize them.”
“A minister who can close more than 400 schools in the state should know the background of SSA. SSA was a flagship scheme launched by the BJP government in the year 2000-2001 under former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to provide fundamental education to children. Arunachal’s literacy rate reached its maximum after the implementation of SSA while it also helped curve unemployment,” APYC president Tarh Johny said.
The Youth Congress also criticized the “capabilities of Tedir as education minister in formulating the idea of Year of Education in the state”.
The Arunachal government had dedicated 2021 as the Year of Education with a planned investment of Rs 1,000 crore for the sector.
“The Year of Education mission is a total failure and the BJP government inducting an unworthy person in a crucial department of the state is the reason for the state’s worst educational performance,” Jhony said.
The APYC further said many SSA teachers are yet to get justice in terms of their job regularization.
Most of them have served the state for more than 15 years while many are on the verge of retirement or seeking other jobs. Instead of appreciating and recognizing the services rendered by them, the minister has made such remarks, the APYC said, while asking Tedir to apologize to the SSA teaching fraternity for hurting their sentiments.
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