U.P. Gen Alpha protests: Opposition demands education reforms, calls checklist ‘eyewash’

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Amid a series of Gen Alpha protests over the alleged lack of infrastructure and teaching staff in Uttar Pradesh and the Education Department issuing a 14-point checklist for nearly 40,000 basic and secondary schools across the State, the Opposition parties on Friday (August 21, 2026) said comprehensive reforms and an overhaul of the current system is needed to satisfy the demands of students and alleged the government is indulging in eyewash.

“Such attempts to issue checklist are equal to hiding systematic failure. The truth is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has let Uttar Pradesh and country down by benefitting a selected few people, while allowing structural collapse of the education system,” said Afzal Ansari, Lok Sabha MP from Ghazipur and senior the Samajwadi Party (SP) leader.

Mr. Ansari said, “the protest be it Gen Alpha or Gen Z, points towards deeper anxiety and unrest in the society where young people are not provided employment opportunity by the system and government, the quality of education in government schools slipped due to lack of teachers and other fundamental loopholes like below standard teaching, hence students are angry with the system.”

“Rather than issuing checklist, the government need to initiate comprehensive reforms in the education sector to match international standards and provide scope of employability in future,” Mr. Ansari added.

Congress called the move of the checklist a ploy to divert attention from issues of school closure and below-standard teaching due to policy failure.

“In Uttar Pradesh, over 25,000 schools have been closed in the last nine years, the BJP government has completely failed in providing quality education, hence students are forced to hit the streets fighting for justice, such checklist are worthless if quality education is not imparted to students, I believe the BJP by design don’t want to impart quality education as the regime is fundamentally against logic, reasoning, they feel educate people will challenge its Hindutva centric authoritarian outlook,” said Anil Yadav, a senior Uttar Pradesh Congress leader.

The Uttar Pradesh Education Department, on August 20, issued a 14-point checklist to over 40,000 primary and secondary schools, including regular inspection of facilities such as drinking water, electricity supply, safety measures, blackboards, the quality of the mess, separate restrooms for boys and girls, and canteen food, among others. The government also directed officials to quickly check any complaint received through social media or other medium.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has stressed the need for comprehensive changes to ensure the systematic operation of state-run Jai Prakash Narayan Sarvodaya Schools. “Clear rules and regulations for the schools be prepared, the selection process for vacant teaching posts be expedited, and necessary action be taken towards the formation of a society so that the management and operation of these residential schools can be carried out more systematically,” said Mr.