Lucknow: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday came out in support of students of Jai Prakash Narayan Sarvodaya Vidyalaya, who took to the streets of Lucknow a day earlier to protest against a shortage of teachers and lack of facilities. The party’s student wing, Association of Students for Alternative Politics (ASAP), held a protest at GPO in Lucknow, demanding immediate action from the govt.ASAP president Anit Rawat demanded recruitment for the more than 77,400 vacant posts for teachers. “The condition of govt schools across UP is extremely pitiable. There are no classrooms, and where rooms exist, teachers are absent. The situation is so dire that young children are being forced to protest on the streets. Children who should be in class are instead blocking roads, pleading with the govt for teachers,” he said.The party also spoke out against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech, saying that when youth and children asked questions about better education and employment, the PM called them ‘Dimagi Naxal’. “If demanding accountability from the govt and asking questions about employment amounts to Naxalism in the govt’s eyes, then it is a label we accept. The PM should understand that the youth are asking for their rights, not charity, and that casting such aspersions on students to hide the govt’s failures is shameful,” he said.
