Hyderabad: News Clickeditor Prabir Purkayastha urged that every educational institution should equip students with digital tools, stressing that AI must not remain a privilege of the wealthy. He cautioned that technology is often misused by ruling classes and corporations, and called for progressive teachers and students to unite in struggles for educational reform.

He addressed the Students’ Federation of India’s (SFI) national convention on Sunday, where speakers emphasized the urgent need to make modern technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), accessible to poor students.

Purkayastha highlighted that while AI may displace certain jobs, it also creates new opportunities, making clarity and preparedness essential. He criticized the commercialization of technology and urged vigilance against misleading narratives in textbooks and media.

SFI General Secretary Chava Ravi strongly opposed the National Education Policy (NEP), arguing that it promotes centralization, privatization, and saffronization of education. He revealed that in the past five years, nearly one lakh government schools have been shut down, including 1,441 in Telangana this year alone. He warned that NEP is eroding teacher rights, reducing grants, and denying education to marginalized children.

Professor Purendra Prasad of HCU expressed concern that 80 percent of school education in India is now privatized, unlike the United States, where common education is largely public. He questioned how equal education and social justice can be achieved when even middle-class families are forced into debt to afford schooling. He cautioned against handing pedagogy to private corporations, calling it a dangerous trend.

The convention also passed a resolution condemning the U.S. attack on Venezuela and the detention of President Maduro, with delegates raising slogans against imperialism.

SFI leaders, including All India Secretary Srijan Bhattacharya, Telangana President S. Rajinikanth, and several district representatives, pledged to intensify struggles against NEP and fight for equitable, accessible education for all.