Education expert and campaigner for public schooling V.P. Niranjanaradhya has strongly criticised the State government’s act of issuing a show-cause notice to a government primary school teacher, Veeranna Madiwalar, from Raibag in Belagavi district.
This smacks of a colonial mindset and continuation of ji huzoor culture. This needs to be condemned strongly.
“The Constitution gives everyone the fundamental right to speech and government employees are not exempt from it. The teacher has expressed his opinion about a policy of the government to merge schools. The government should have appreciated this as valuable feedback and not come down on him,’’ Dr. Niranjanaradhya said.
All this is happening as per the instruction of Primary Education Minister B.C. Nagesh, Dr. Niranjanaradhya said.
“He has dictatorial tendencies. His decision to issue a notice to Mr. Madiwalar for voicing his opinion is unscientific, unconstitutional and immature,” he added.
“This is evident in the preparation of the position paper on NEP, textbook revision and NEP implementation,” Dr. Niranjanaradhya said.
The Minister, who does not respect democratic values, has lost the right to continue in his position in a democratic government, he said. Officers, teachers and concerned citizens should not only criticise this move by the government but also protest against it. “If we all do not condemn this act, then we will face the situation that Mr. Madiwalar is in now,’’ he said.
