Balurghat, Nov. 23: The RSP, an ally of the CPM in the ruling Left Front, today criticised the government for having deprived students of Bengal the right to learn English.

“We had opposed the idea from the very beginning. But the CPM leadership forced the removal of the language from the syllabus at the primary level. Now they are going to set it right by introducing it again from Class I,” RSP state committee member Bimal Sarkar said.

Addressing the open session of the last day of the two-day district convention of the party’s student wing, All India Progressive Students’ Union (AIPSU), the veteran leader, sharing the dais with jail minister Biswanath Chowdhury, said: “After 24 years, they want to revive English. Will the government now apologise to all those who have been deprived of learning the language? Who is going to compensate for the loss suffered by the students in previous years?”

“A day will come when the CPM leadership will say it was a historical blunder. Just as the BJP government is trying to create a division in the name of religion, the state government too is trying to create a fissure among students of different generations by its whimsical decisions,” Sarkar added.

State committee secretary of the AIPSU Rajib Banerjee called upon all students’ organisations to carry on their movements against the “ever-increasing cost of education”.He took the Left Front government to task for its “effort to turn education into a commodity.”

“It was our election pledge before the Left Front came to power that it would reach education to all. Now we have forgotten our promises. We are trying to make education a saleable commodity,” the student leader said. “Many villages do not have schools. Even if there is one, there are no teachers or buildings. To be precise, we failed to build the minimum infrastructure. On the other hand, permits are being issued at random to private schools and colleges. Those who can afford to get admission in such institutions are benefiting. But students passing out from ordinary schools and colleges have no future,” Banerjee said.

By introducing capitation fee in medical colleges, the government has established that it is following the “rightist” path, he added.