Leaders of the A.P. United Teachers’ Federation (UTF) have urged the employees and teachers across the State to participate in the ‘Chalo Parliament’ proposed by the School Teachers’ Federation of India (STFI) in December.
In a statement on Wednesday, UTF State vice-president N. Venkateswarlu said employees and teachers across the country wanted repeal of the National Education Policy (NEP), brought in the “most undemocratic” way and the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) that was detrimental to the interests of the employees.
He said a decision to this effect was taken at a two-day national-level STFI meeting held in Kolkata on September 27 and 28. He said using NEP as a pretext, the government was allowing the corporate sector to take control of the education sector, which resultantly would deprive children from the marginal communities of education.
The UTF leader said certain aspects of the NEP, in relation to language and caste, would deepen the societal divides.
Referring to the contentious issue of CPS, he said despite constant appeals by the employees and teachers, the governments at the Centre and in the State had remained indifferent to their pleas.
He said employees and teachers should unite and fight for restoration of the old pension system.