Students' outfit All India Democratic Students' Organisation (Aidso) forced closure of four colleges in Jamshedpur on Wednesday, a day where the bandh of national trade unions could not make a dent in the city's academic scenario.
Aidso raised three major issues they felt were detrimental to students by forcibly closing Jamshedpur Women's College in Bistupur, Jamshedpur Co-operative College in CH Area, Graduate School College for Women in Sakchi and Jamshedpur Workers' College in Mango.
All four are constituent colleges of Kolhan University and located in the heart of the city, which ensured the outfit's protest made the maximum impact.
First, Aidso asked the system of no-detention in schools till Class VIII, in place under the Right to Education Act, be scrapped. The students' outfit claimed that as schoolchildren nowadays know they would be promoted even if they perform miserably, they develop a casual attitude about studies from the beginning, which harms them in the long run.
Secondly, Aidso called attention towards the exorbitant rise in the fees of various courses, especially BEd, which became a two-year course recently.
Third, Aidso objected to higher education becoming increasingly privatised and therefore too costly for the masses. Too many private players mushrooming also leads to uneven quality of education, it claimed. The outfit had called for all-India closure of schools and colleges, demanding changes in the existing education system.
"Aidso had declared the bandh sometime ago but colleges were open on Wednesday, so we targeted four colleges that were successfully closed. The teaching staff supported us. We are doing this for the long-term benefit of the student community," said Sumit Roy, a state committee member of Aidso.
He said a group of 60 members, including girls, had gone to Jamshedpur Women's College in Bistupur at 8am to close it, subsequently going to the institutions in CH Area, Sakchi and Mango, respectively.
Last month, over 1,000 students under the banner of Aidso demonstrated in front of East Singhbhum DC office on the same issues.
