Education

At least eight people, including students and teachers, were killed and 15 others injured after a student opened fire inside a school in Thailand. Police said the gunman later died by suicide.

The scholar announced his resignation amid a new investigation into his qualifications.

Jason Arday has resigned from his post as professor of sociology at the University of Cambridge, following the announcement of a new investigation into his academic qualifications and career.

Arday, who became the youngest Black professor in Cambridge’s history when he was appointed in 2023, announced on Wednesday that he had stepped down “with immediate effect” from his post at the university and his fellowship at Jesus College.

Arday, who has faced a growing series of questions over his academic writings and credentials, said in a statement posted on the Good Law Project website that the scrutiny had become unsustainable, describing months of “relentless accusations, speculation and public commentary” that had taken a toll on him and his family.

The announcement came hours after the university said it had received “new information” about Arday’s qualifications and honorary appointments and would launch a new investigation, which is separate from an existing academic misconduct review already under way.

His decision to step down comes after a series of media reports alleging he plagiarised his PhD thesis and other research and statements.

Liverpool John Moores University, which awarded the doctorate in 2015, investigated the plagiarism allegations but did not uphold them, attributing the issues instead to “honest and reasonable error”. Arday has consistently denied wrongdoing, pointing to that finding as vindication.

Cambridge University had robustly defended Arday in June, claiming “a vile campaign to undermine his credibility” and insisting plagiarism claims regarding his “thesis and journal publications” had been investigated and dismissed by “the relevant institution” and journals.

It did not specify on Wednesday what new information had prompted its investigation, while Jesus College said separately that it was starting its own inquiry.

US academic and self-defined “race realist” Nathan Cofnas is behind some of the allegations. He was a Cambridge research affiliate, but his tenure ended in 2024 amid racism accusations. He has claimed multiple sections of Arday’s doctoral dissertation were copied from other works.

Some of Arday’s claims about his personal life, including that he ran 30 marathons in 35 days and raised millions for charity, have also come under scrutiny.

In an interview with The Times newspaper on Saturday, Arday admitted making academic “mistakes” but said he was being wrongly “portrayed to be a liar and a fantasist and an academic fraud”.

He also alleged the “campaign to unseat me from my position” was “racially motivated”.

The resignation also raises questions about the release of Arday’s memoir, Great and Unfortunate Things, which Simon & Schuster was planning to publish later this month.

In his statement, Arday framed his resignation as a pause, writing that he needed “time to heal” and that he “will return”.

“When I accepted the extraordinary honour of becoming professor of sociology at Cambridge, it was, without question, the greatest professional privilege of my life.”

He says the scrutiny of his work has made him “conclude that the only way to bring this chapter to an end is to step away”.

A controversial wealth tax won backing from the California Democratic Party on Sunday, the latest episode in the measure roiling the left and its allies.

The party’s executive board voted Sunday to endorse Proposition 40, which, if approved by voters this November, would impose a 5% one-time tax on billionaires’ assets to pay for healthcare.

The measure has proved divisive. While it has support from progressives including Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont), others including Gov. Gavin Newsom, gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra, and a growing list of labor unions have come out against it, arguing the one-time nature of the tax and billionaire flight could cause more harm than good to California’s state budget.

“This endorsement puts to rest the idea that California Democrats are not united by the billionaire tax — they are,” said Dave Regan, President of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, the labor union that gathered enough signatures to put Proposition 40 on the ballot.

Regan cited an internal poll which found more than 80% of registered Democrats support the tax, “and now the Democratic Party of California has officially embraced that strong support through this endorsement.”

Public opinion polls have shown the measure with slim majority support. According to a May poll from the Public Policy Institute of California, 54% of likely voters and 76% of Democrats said they would vote for the tax.

Proposition 40 seeks to raise $100 billion over a five-year span to backfill cuts to Medicaid and food assistance programs included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed by President Trump last year. Its supporters argue that the federal tax cuts benefit the wealthy at the expense of low-income people and that Proposition 40 would reverse the damage.

Its opponents, which include the California Teachers Assn. and tech founders spending millions to defeat the measure, argue it could destabilize the state budget — which already taxes wealthy earners at higher rates — by pushing billionaires to leave California for other states.

In a statement, the No on Prop. 40 campaign said Newsom, Becerra, and organizations including the California Professional Firefighters union and Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California oppose the tax “because it’s bad for our budget, bad for our economy, and bad for our future. We need smart, durable solutions to our biggest challenges, not unreliable, untested schemes that shortchange healthcare, education, and public safety.”

Democratic executive board members endorsed the measure Sunday during a meeting in San Diego. The party also voted to oppose two competing ballot measures that seek to undercut the billionaire’s tax, along with a voter ID measure and a proposal to weaken the California Environmental Quality Act for housing and infrastructure projects.

Democrats voted to endorse two housing bonds — a $11.25-billion bond to build affordable housing and a $25-billion down payment assistance program — and an $8.4-billion immunology research bond.

The party is also supporting a measure to make permanent an existing tax on high-income earners which funds education and health care.

“Every endorsement we make is earned, not given,” California Democratic Party chair Rusty Hicks said in a statement. “California Democrats take a deliberative approach to our endorsement process that puts our values first and ensures our members have a meaningful voice in shaping the future of our state.”

In the Musa family home in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, for three siblings, the announcement of this year’s high school examination results on July 24 reflected a long journey of determination.

Despite the ongoing genocide in Gaza, Sama, Abdullah and Nada Musa had focused all their attention on their Tawjihi, a series of exams that decide Palestinian high school students’ academic future, to insulate their futures from incessant hardships and uncertainty.

Their trepidation turned into a family celebration when all three found out that they had passed their exams with flying colours. Sama scored 97.5 percent, Abdullah 94.6 percent, and Nada, 94.4 percent.

Sama Musa, who achieved the highest grade among the siblings, said the path to academic success was “exceptional and difficult”.

“Thank God for everything. I expected a higher grade, but the circumstances determined the result we achieved,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Even psychologically, a person did not have the energy to continue, but I challenged all circumstances so I could make my family happy and achieve the grade I had dreamed of for years.”

Educational challenges

The path was particularly demanding for Abdullah and Nada, who could not attend private lessons due to their physical disabilities, so the family arranged for teachers to come to their home.

Their mother, Hind Muhanna, says years of care and support had played a role in their children achieving exceptional grades. “Thank God, we worked very hard for them, and today I am reaping the fruits of their success. Our efforts did not go to waste,” she told Al Jazeera.

“We always made them feel that they were better than everyone else. From kindergarten through school, everyone who knew them would ask me: ‘What is the secret behind their confidence?’”

Nada Musa acknowledged that their parents’ support was a key motivation to push them towards achieving high grades.

“Thank God, because of my parents I was able to challenge all difficulties. They supported me at every step and never fell short,” she said.

Despite the students’ work and parents’ backing, the genocide in Gaza inevitably affected their academic year, so Abdullah was relieved that their grades reflected the family’s joint efforts.

“Thank God, it was a grade that reflected the effort and hard work. It was a very difficult year filled with displacement and hardships, but despite the pain, we were able to reach the top and achieve the goals we worked for,” he said.

In an environment that makes life for Palestinians unbearable, thousands of students in Gaza – including the three siblings – worked hard over the year to prepare themselves for the exams.

Palestinian Minister of Education Amjad Barham said about 89,000 students in the occupied West Bank, occupied East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip took the Tawjihi this year. Another 2,000 students sat for the exams in 46 other countries.

Barham said that more than 106,000 students in Gaza have taken the Tawjihi exams over the past three years, including 36,900 students in 2026. More than 1,100 students who were due to take the Tawjihi exams this year were killed by Israel.

Israel’s war on Gaza has also seen thousands of homes destroyed, schools bombed, roads uprooted, and educational resources barred from entering Gaza.

The United Nations said in November, shortly after a truce was announced for Gaza, that more than 97 percent of schools have been damaged or destroyed over the past two years of war.

Gaza’s educational system was on the verge of collapse, the UN added, with nearly 92 percent of education facilities requiring full reconstruction or major rehabilitation to become functional.

Teaching amid a genocide

Also behind the students’ success were teachers who continued their duties despite the exceptional circumstances.

Hanaa al-Sayed, a mathematics teacher, supported a number of Tawjihi students through classes at an educational centre in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, amid the destruction wrought by Israel.

Many students arrived at class carrying heavy psychological loads caused by the grief and trauma of losing family members. Her response to the situation was to treat them not just as her students, but also as children, with love and care.

“The students did not only need someone to explain the curriculum; they needed someone to listen to them and stand beside them,” she told Al Jazeera.

“I treated them as if they were my own daughters, trying to support them psychologically before teaching them mathematics.”

Inside the school, which also served as a shelter for displaced people, children sat on mats during lessons.

“There were no desks or chairs. The school was divided between Tawjihi students and displaced people, but despite that, we insisted on continuing education,” she said.

Palestinians have demonstrated a commitment to education despite the difficult circumstances they have faced over the past decades, and the Tawjihi results this year reflect this.

“What I saw from the students was something exceptional. They came to study despite everything around them because they believe education is their path to the future,” Hanaa said.

Some of her students who paused their education before the war have since returned to school.

“There were students who had lost hope of completing their education before the war, but they returned and decided to start again,” Hanaa said. “This reflects the level of determination and desire to achieve their dreams.”

Celebrations amid grief

While many students celebrated their Tawjihi results, this was also a time mixed with grief.

Tala Abu Sukkar, from the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, lost her mother, Salwa, in 2010 when she was just two years old. During the war on Gaza, she lost her older brother Yusuf, then her father, Mahmoud, followed by her sister and her four nephews and nieces. Tala now lives with her uncle, who became her main support carer after the loss of so many family members, and took her Tawjihi exams this year.

The final year of school was not only an academic challenge, but also a major psychological struggle as she tried to cope with the pain and grief that followed her throughout the year.

“I lost people who were part of my life. The hardest thing was continuing my path while carrying all this pain inside me, but I tried to stay strong and keep going,” she said.

“The Tawjihi period was one of the most difficult stages I have gone through. I was studying while trying to deal with grief, but I had a goal to succeed and achieve something that would make my family proud.”

When she received her certificate, achieving an average score of 86 percent, it was a moment mixed with joy and sadness.

“When the results appeared, I felt mixed emotions. I was happy that I succeeded, but I wished my father and my family members were with me to share this joy,” she said.

“My uncle has been my support after losing my family, and his presence beside me helped me continue and not give up.”

The stories of this year’s Tawjihi students in Gaza represent the determination of a generation to continue education and work towards a better future, despite great hardships.

Despite losing loved ones, changing learning environments and daily difficulties, students continued their journey with the support of loving family members and teachers.

The Tawjihi journey is a story of patience and determination but also shows how important education is to Palestinians’ lives. For the children of Gaza, schools remain a place of hope, care and ambition.

JOHANNESBURG — Oprah Winfrey says she will close the school for underprivileged girls she set up in South Africa two decades ago at the end of next year.

Winfrey opened the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in 2007 after being inspired by conversations with former South African President Nelson Mandela about the transformative power of educating girls. He was among the guests at the school’s opening ceremony.

Winfrey’s charitable foundation ran and funded the school, but it was always part of the agreement that the academy campus near Johannesburg be ultimately handed over to the provincial education department, the academy said.

“The dream was never simply to build a school,” Winfrey said in a statement issued by the academy on Wednesday. “It was to invest in the limitless potential of young women. That mission doesn’t end with one campus. It continues in every girl whose future can be transformed through education.”

The academy said Winfrey’s commitment to educating South African girls would continue through an expanded national scholarship program supporting academically talented girls at leading schools across the country.

More than 500 girls have graduated from the academy and some have attended top universities in South Africa, the United States and Europe, according to the Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation.

The Gauteng provincial government will take over the 52-acre academy campus, which has 21 classrooms, six science and computer laboratories, a 10,000-volume library and a 600-seat theater. It did not immediately say what the plans for the property were.

Gauteng Provincial Minister for Education Lebogang Maile said those currently enrolled in the school will be able to complete their education with uninterrupted financial support.

The academy drew international attention shortly after opening in 2007 when several students accused a dormitory matron of physically and sexually abusing them.

Winfrey traveled to South Africa to meet with students and parents, publicly apologized, and commissioned an independent investigation.

The matron was acquitted of criminal charges in 2010.

Gumede writes for the Associated Press.

From royal romances and golfing greats to medieval ruins and legendary fudge doughnuts, this coastal town is one of the most captivating towns in Britain

There are few places in Britain that carry quite as much history, charm and quiet prestige as St Andrews. Perched on the rugged Fife coastline of Scotland’s east coast, this small seaside town has been drawing in royalty, scholars, golfing legends and curious travellers for centuries – and once you’ve visited, it’s very easy to understand why.

Home to one of Britain’s oldest universities, St Andrews on Scotland’s east coast is genuinely special.

It’s a place I’ve visited countless times, but each trip reveals something fresh to discover. During a weekend escape to Lower Largo, a small village in Fife, we dropped into St Andrews for the afternoon. From Edinburgh it’s around an hour and a half’s drive, while from Glasgow it’s an hour and three quarters.

A town steeped in history

The town’s story stretches back well over a thousand years. St Andrews became a major centre of Christianity in Scotland during the medieval period, largely thanks to the legend that the relics of Saint Andrew – Scotland’s patron saint – were brought here by a monk named St Regulus in the 4th century.

It’s also a town that has never been far from the corridors of power. Mary Queen of Scots was a frequent visitor, and the town played a key role during the Scottish Reformation of the 16th century.

Where William met Catherine

Fast forward a few centuries and the town’s most famous modern love story unfolded here. It’s where King Charles III’s eldest son, now known as Prince William, first crossed paths with Catherine Middleton while both were studying at the University of St Andrews in the early 2000s. The pair went on to marry in 2011.

The university itself, founded in 1413, is the third oldest in the English-speaking world and the oldest in Scotland. Its ancient cobbled streets and honey-stoned buildings give the whole town an air of class.

The home of golf

Whether you’re passionate about it or not, most people are probably aware that St Andrews is also famous for its golfing heritage. The Old Course, one of the world’s most famous, features an iconic landmark that calls for a photograph regardless of how often you’ve visited. Our first stop on this trip was the Swilcan Bridge, built over 700 years ago and situated on the course’s 18th hole.

The list of golfing greats who have walked across that modest stone bridge reads like a who’s who of the sport – Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer and Seve Ballesteros among them. Setting foot on the green yourself feels bizarre, and the bridge provides the perfect photo opportunity. You’re bound to encounter other tourists, so you might have to wait a moment for your snap, but it’s well worth it.

It’s also popular with non-golfers, as country superstar Luke Combs was even spotted hitting a few balls there recently.

The Jigger Inn

Just a two-minute stroll away lies the fantastic Jigger Inn pub, which was our next destination for something to eat. Dating back to the 1850s, the Jigger Inn is a warm, inviting pub with crackling fires that looks out over the golf course.

There’s an excellent range of drinks at the bar, or you can settle down and order from the menu, which is precisely what we decided to do. No one will persuade me there’s a finer pairing than a Caesar salad, chips and wine, and the Jigger Inn served up all three superbly.

Exploring the town

Properly fed and watered, it was time to explore the town itself. It’s not the biggest, with most shops and attractions scattered across roughly three main streets, but you could easily wander for hours without getting bored. The medieval history is clearly evident as you walk through its streets – in fact, St Andrews retains much of its original medieval street plan, with the three main thoroughfares of North Street, South Street and Market Street dating back to the 12th century.

One of the town’s standout attractions is the ruins of St Andrews Cathedral, situated near the waterfront. Built in 1158, it was once the largest church in Scotland and a truly awe-inspiring structure.

There’s so much to take in around St Andrews that you could almost forget the sea is right on your doorstep. Just beyond the Old Course lies the renowned West Sands Beach, which famously featured in the iconic opening scene of the 1981 film Chariots of Fire. Had the weather been a bit better, it would have made for a perfect seaside stroll, but with the wind battering us from all sides, we decided to continue exploring the town.

Shopping in St Andrews

St Andrews is packed with fantastic shops, ranging from well-known high street names such as H&M and Jo Malone to independent boutiques and one-of-a-kind retailers you won’t find anywhere else.

As an avid bookworm, I was particularly eager to visit Topping and Company, a beloved family-run bookseller with a small number of stores dotted across the UK.

A whole table of signed first editions greeted visitors at the entrance, while the shelves seemed to stretch endlessly upwards and deep into the shop. It’s the sort of place where you could effortlessly lose hours browsing.

Just one final destination remained, and if you’ve got a sweet tooth, you’ll want to pay attention. No visit to St Andrews would be complete without popping into Fisher and Donaldson.

Founded in Fife in 1919, this beloved family-run bakery is known for one thing above all else: its fudge doughnuts. Widely considered the best in Scotland, these gloriously indulgent treats are packed with fresh custard and finished with an irresistible fudge icing. We picked up a few to enjoy with a coffee later, and predictably, they vanished in no time.

St Andrews is just a wonderful destination for a day trip or even a weekend break if you fancy a more leisurely pace. It’s charming whatever the weather, but on a bright summer’s day, it’s unbeatable.

Rampur, India – More than 100 people sit cross-legged on mats, braving the brutal July heat, as they raise slogans and wave the national flag in a north Indian town.

Barely 200km (132 miles) from the capital, New Delhi, where thousands of youths demanding education reforms just forced a minister to resign, a group of students, alumni and residents are holding an indefinite sit-in to oppose the planned demolition of 38 of Mohammad Ali Jauhar University’s 40 buildings.

Named after a freedom fighter who fought against British rule, the university was founded by prominent Muslim politician Azam Khan in Rampur district of Uttar Pradesh state. Khan established the Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust in 2003, which oversaw the university’s establishment three years later.

On July 15, when protests led by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) – a youth movement born out of a joke – were at their peak, the Rampur district administration issued an order to demolish most of the university’s buildings, alleging they flouted regulatory guidelines.

Only two structures, including a proposed medical college block, were built with valid approvals, the authorities claimed, as they ordered the university to take down the “illegal” buildings by August 5. If they failed to do so, the authorities said they will move in with bulldozers and recover the cost of the demolition from the university.

On Monday, the state administration issued an interim stay on its order, but did not explicitly state whether the demolition was halted.

Jauhar University’s vice chancellor, Zaheeruddin, told Al Jazeera the stay order does not mean the demolition has been called off.

“It means that the demolition will not take place by the August 5 deadline set by the RDA. The university is now seeking a verdict that quashes the demolition order outright,” he said, using the acronym for Rampur Development Authority.

‘Stop the demolition’

For nearly 3,000 students pursuing dozens of courses at the 250-acre campus, the government move is a bolt from the blue.

Since July 15, a group of university students and alumni has been sitting outside its main gate, demanding the withdrawal of the demolition order.

“If a [federal] minister can be forced to resign following the CJP protest, why can’t the Uttar Pradesh government be forced to stop the demolition of the university when so many students are agitating here,” asked Usama Tayyab, who graduated from Jauhar University in 2019.

Uttar Pradesh – home to about 240 million people – has been governed by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since 2017. The state’s chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, is a saffron-clad hardline Hindu monk, known for his anti-Muslim hate speech and policies.

Khan, the 77-year-old founder and lifelong chancellor of the university, had been one of the most stringent critics of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. He is one of the founders of the Samajwadi Party (“samajwadi” means socialist in Hindi), a political group popular among the state’s 38 million Muslims, as well as a large majority of its underprivileged caste Hindu voters.

Khan studied law in the 1970s at the Aligarh Muslim University, India’s largest minority institution, about 160km (100 miles) from Rampur. At Aligarh, he made a mark as a fiery student leader, and later as a politician who took on a former royal family, which for decades had dominated the politics in Rampur, a district with nearly 50 percent Muslims, according to the last census conducted in 2011.

He joined electoral politics in 1980 and represented Rampur in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly for 10 terms, also serving as a minister in several state governments and as leader of the opposition. He was also elected to the lower house of Indian Parliament from Rampur and sent to the upper house later by his party. In 2003, he established a Mohammad Ali Jauhar Trust, which oversaw the establishment of the university three years later, and cemented his position as one of the most prominent Muslim leaders in northern India.

And that brought him into the crosshairs of the BJP.

‘Vendetta politics’

Shortly after coming to power in 2017, Adityanath’s government filed nearly 100 cases against Khan, charging him with landgrab, forgery and hate speech. Dozens of those cases against him relate to Jauhar University.

Khan spent more than two years in jail before the Supreme Court granted him bail in 2022. The next year, a court in Rampur convicted him, his wife Tazeen Fatima and their son Abdullah Azam Khan, also a former legislator, of using forged birth certificates.

He is currently serving a two-year sentence handed down in May this year for making “provocative remarks” during the 2019 general elections, alongside his conviction in a separate case related to a fake income tax document.

Supporters say the cases against Khan and his family are politically motivated. The state government denies the allegation.

Samajwadi Party MP Javed Ali Khan, unrelated to Azam Khan, told Al Jazeera the Jauhar University demolition order was “vendetta politics by a ruling dispensation opposed to education and intent on keeping people illiterate”.

“There are many reasons why this university is being targeted. First, it was founded by Azam Khan. Second, its foundation stone was laid by Mulayam Singh, the Samajwadi Party patriarch. Third, it was inaugurated by Akhilesh Yadav, the former chief minister of the state. And fourth, it is a minority university,” he said.

Mulayam Singh Yadav, the main founder of the Samajwadi Party, died in 2022. His son Akhilesh now heads the party and is a member of the anti-BJP coalition that includes the Indian National Congress, India’s main opposition party.

BJP spokesman Rakesh Tripathi said the demolition order is “in line with legal procedures against illegal construction”, and accused the Samajwadi Party of playing “appeasement politics”.

“Can anyone deny that Azam Khan built this university on illegal land? He used his position and power during the Samajwadi Party government to construct this university on illegal land and erect illegal buildings. What we are doing is simply following the law on illegal construction, and that means the university should be demolished,” Tripathi told Al Jazeera.

‘Girls will never get another chance’

But anger over the imminent demolition of Rampur’s only full-fledged university is growing. The district is ahead of only four among Uttar Pradesh’s 75 districts in terms of literacy rate, according to the 2011 census.

Also, nearly half of the students at Jauhar University are females, according to chief proctor, Gulrez Nizami.

Iqra, a fifth-year law student who goes by only one name, told Al Jazeera she had chosen the university for a reason.

“Our parents were satisfied with the atmosphere here, and with the safety it offers to women students over other universities,” she said.

“If this university is demolished, girls like us will never get another chance to study anywhere else. Our parents will not be convinced to send us elsewhere. They chose this place because they believed Muslim girls were safe here,” Iqra said.

Iqra said the government is running a counselling camp to advise the students on joining another college or university to continue their education. “But we don’t want to go there. We chose this institution for a reason,” she said.

And it is not just Muslims who are protesting against the university’s planned demolition – more than a third of its students are Hindus.

“They may call it a Muslim university, and yes, it is indeed a minority university by legal status, but that does not mean others do not study here,” Chandni Diwakar, a first-year paramedical student, told Al Jazeera.

“I have been a part of the university for the past year and have never once felt like a non-Muslim in a minority university. Everyone here is friendly, teachers and students alike,” she said at the sit-in site.

The RDA says its action follows a report by a regional officer who flagged the alleged violations. A meeting with lawyers representing both the university and the RDA was held on July 15.

“They were given notice, and they have since given a written response. Out of the 40 buildings constructed at Jauhar University, only two were considered acceptable. The other 38 were proven invalid,” Ajay Kumar Dwivedi, district magistrate and RDA vice chairperson, told reporters on July 15.

But Vice Chancellor Zaheeruddin dismissed the charge, claiming the institution located in Rampur’s Singankhera village came under RDA jurisdiction only in September 2024, years after the buildings were constructed.

Approval, added Zaheeruddin, was therefore not required at the time of construction and cannot be demanded now.

“There was no RDA jurisdiction in Singankhera at the time the university was formed. We are running courses approved by different government bodies, which grant approval only once we meet all their criteria,” he told Al Jazeera, calling the RDA’s move a violation of the constitutional right to education.

“They are simply using this as a tool against the visionary Azam Khan, who created this university for the upliftment of the minorities, the poor, and the underprivileged,” he said.

But the officials say the alleged violations cannot be regularised under the existing laws, leaving demolition as the only legal remedy.

Al Jazeera made repeated attempts to contact Dwivedi for his comments and even visited his office in Rampur. But he declined to meet or respond to requests for an interview.

‘Police coming to our houses’

The university has challenged the RDA order as protests grow on campus.

“If others can achieve results through a peaceful protest, why can’t we, as Muslim students, achieve our legitimate goal of stopping the demolition of our university? If this requires sacrifice, we are willing to give it. But we will not accept this injustice against us any longer,” Usman Ali, a law graduate from the university, told Al Jazeera.

He alleged that police are visiting the homes of students on strike to pressure their families into calling off their protest. “Police are coming to our houses and threatening our parents with consequences, but we will not back down.”

On Sunday, the protesters were joined by a delegation of Samajwadi Party parliamentarians, including Javed Ali Khan, Ziaur Rahman Barq of Sambhal and Iqra Choudhary of Kairana.

“There are multiple dimensions to it [demolition]. One, it was meant to create a spectacle out of confronting powerful Muslims in front of its Hindu voters. Second, there has been a sustained campaign throughout this government’s tenure against minority institutions. And third, it does not want mingling between Hindus and Muslims, of which universities are a stronghold,” Apoorvanand, a teacher of Hindi literature at the University of Delhi who goes by a single name, told Al Jazeera.

Since 2014, when BJP’s Narendra Modi became prime minister, India has seen a spike in demolitions of homes, mosques, shops and other properties in a pattern that rights groups say disproportionately affects Muslims. Authorities claim they are targeting “illegal encroachments”.

Back in Rampur, Abdul Kaleem Ansari, another Jauhar University graduate, draws a parallel between their protest and the CJP movement that forced India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign over a series of examination paper leaks.

Ansari, who attended both, said he was surprised that calls for education reforms, which drove the “Cockroach” protesters to the streets, do not include the imminent demolition of a full-fledged university as part of their agenda.

“It is astonishing that they are talking about education reforms, but saying nothing about the demolition notice served to Jauhar University, a minority university situated just a few hundred kilometres from Delhi,” he said.

“The futures of all its students and alumni are at stake, and we do not know where to go from here.”

An Indian police officer has been suspended after firing an AK-47 rifle at students protesting over leaked exam papers. The protests, which led to the education minister’s resignation, have sparked accusations of excessive police force.

July 25 (UPI) — India’s education minister resigned Saturday amid a scandal that led hundreds of thousands of young people and students to the streets in one of the country’s largest protests.

Demonstrations began in New Delhi in early June, after it came to light that answers to one of the country’s most prestigious college-entrance exams, taken by millions of students, had been leaked.

At least a dozen students died by suicide after the government announced they would have to retake the exam.

The protests, organized by the youth-led Cockroach Janata Party, swelled to hundreds of thousands of people across the nation early this week, forcing the hand of Prime Minister Narendra Modi‘s government.

“This is one of the most historic days for our country,” one protester, Rochelle Cope, told The Guardian. “For the first time in 12 years, someone from the government has been held accountable for wrongdoing. And it wasn’t political parties that did this — it was the people.”

The education minister, Dharmendra Pradhan, said in his resignation letter “the events of the past ten days have saddened me deeply.”

“During this period, individuals holding responsible positions also tried to mislead many students and create obstacles, which caused me deep anguish,” he said in a statement.

Pressure began to grow this week after police brutally cracked down against protesters, using tear gas and batons to clear them out.

Opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said he would raise the issue in India’s parliament, holding Home Minister Amit Shah “directly responsible for the violence inflicted.”

“He authorized the firing on our students, authorized the use of lethal weapons, and authorized the use of pellet guns against them,” Gandhi told the BBC. “That’s a fundamental issue.”

Modi’s government announced late Saturday that the education ministry would be assigned to Pralhad Joshi, who’s already the minister for consumer affairs, food and public distribution, as well as new and renewable energy.

Following the education minister’s resignation, leaders for the protests instructed the crowd to disperse.

“All our demands have been accepted, so we request the protesters to withdraw immediately and return home peacefully,” Saurav Das, a spokesperson for the Cockroach Janata, told reporters.

The world claims to regard education as a universal right. Its financial system tells a different story.

⁠New figures released by UNESCO show that 113 countries with a total population of 6.1 billion now spend more on servicing debt than educating their people. In low-income countries, debt payments are nearly four times education expenditure. In 18 of the most heavily indebted countries, governments spend at least five times more on debt than on education.

These are not merely signs of strained public finances. They reveal a stark political hierarchy.

Creditors possess enforceable claims on government revenues. Children possess declarations, development goals and promises. When the two collide, creditors are paid first.

The consequences are visible in overcrowded classrooms, deteriorating school buildings, teacher shortages, unaffordable school fees and children leaving education prematurely. Yet these outcomes are generally described as funding gaps or failures of domestic governance, as though governments had freely decided to neglect their schools.

In reality, many governments are operating inside an international financial order that sharply restricts what they can choose.

The ⁠World Bank reports that developing countries transferred $741bn more to external creditors in principal and interest between 2022 and 2024 than they received in new financing. This was the largest net debt outflow in at least 50 years. In 2024 alone, low and middle-income countries paid a record $415bn in interest.

In other words, the financial flows are frequently moving in the opposite direction from the one suggested by the language of development assistance.

Poorer countries are commonly portrayed as beneficiaries of Western generosity. But vast amounts of public wealth are travelling from debtor countries to bondholders, commercial banks, multilateral institutions and wealthier creditor governments.

Money that could hire teachers, provide school meals or build classrooms is instead leaving the country.

This is particularly perverse because education is not simply another item of government consumption. It is an investment in a society’s future capacities. Cutting it may make debt payments easier today, but it will weaken productivity, public revenues and social resilience tomorrow.

Debt contracts are treated as binding obligations whose breach can trigger credit downgrades, capital flight, lawsuits and exclusion from financial markets. The right to education, by contrast, carries no comparable machinery of enforcement.

No ratings agency downgrades creditors when a country cannot afford enough teachers. No financial penalty is imposed on bondholders when debt service forces children out of school. Markets do not panic when classrooms collapse.

The system disciplines governments for failing creditors, not for failing children.

UNESCO has proposed expanding debt-for-education swaps. Under these arrangements, a creditor cancels or restructures part of a country’s debt in exchange for government investment in agreed educational programmes.

Such initiatives can produce tangible gains. A 2023 agreement with France helped Ivory Coast finance more than 30 schools in underserved areas. A German agreement with Egypt supported school feeding and basic services, while an earlier Spain-Peru programme funded education projects across vulnerable regions.

These programmes are worthwhile. But they are not a solution to the larger debt crisis.

Debt swaps typically cover only a small fraction of what countries owe. They are negotiated selectively, depend on creditor consent and may add new layers of external monitoring to domestic spending. Most importantly, they leave untouched the principle that creditors are entitled to repayment unless they voluntarily concede otherwise.

The question becomes how to persuade creditors to permit a little more education, rather than why the claims of creditors should take priority in the first place.

That question is especially urgent because education aid is also falling. UNESCO projects that international assistance for education could decline by as much as 30 percent between 2023 and 2027.

Debtor countries are therefore being squeezed from both sides: aid is retreating while debt payments continue.

The familiar recommendation that developing countries should mobilise more domestic resources is inadequate. Progressive taxation and reduced corruption matter. But additional revenues will not transform education systems if they are immediately diverted towards debts contracted at high interest rates, or made more expensive by currency depreciation.

Nor can the problem be solved by demanding ever more austerity. Education budgets consist largely of recurring expenditure, especially teachers’ salaries. When governments are instructed to freeze public-sector wage bills, they cannot solve teacher shortages or expand access, however often international institutions proclaim education a priority.

A more serious response would begin with large-scale debt cancellation for countries in distress, automatic suspension of payments during economic and climate emergencies, far cheaper concessional financing and a fair multilateral mechanism for restructuring sovereign debt.

At present, debt negotiations are fragmented among private creditors, bilateral lenders and international institutions. Debtor governments must bargain with powerful financial actors while trying to avoid being punished for seeking relief.

A binding United Nations framework for sovereign debt could establish shared rules, require both borrowers and lenders to act responsibly and prevent holdout creditors from obstructing restructuring. It could also make social rights central to assessments of what a country can genuinely afford to repay.

The world needs to move towards the idea that debt repayment cannot come at any human cost. A debt is not sustainable when paying it requires dismantling the institutions on which a society’s future depends.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

Leaders of India’s youth-led “Cockroach” movement are set to hold talks with government representatives on Friday in an effort to resolve a growing political crisis triggered by national examination paper leaks. Despite the dialogue, protest leaders have made clear that nationwide demonstrations will continue until their key demands, including the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, are met.

The negotiations come after activist Sonam Wangchuk ended a 26-day hunger strike overnight, raising hopes of a possible breakthrough in the weeks-long standoff that has brought tens of thousands of young protesters to the streets of New Delhi.

The movement has become the biggest youth-led challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he first took office in 2014. Opposition parties have backed the protesters’ demands and disrupted the ongoing monsoon session of parliament, turning the issue into one of the most significant political crises of Modi’s third term.

Government and Protest Leaders Prepare for Talks

Representatives of the self-styled Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which emerged from an online satirical movement into a nationwide protest campaign, will meet government ministers at a neutral venue.

CJP spokesperson Saurav Das said the movement hoped the government would engage seriously with protesters’ concerns.

“We hope that the government comes with an open mind and listens to the people of this country who have been on the streets for so long,” Das told reporters. “We will explain our demands in greater detail, and we hope the government will respond positively.”

However, he stressed that negotiations would not halt the movement.

“We are not backing out,” Das said. “Real change begins at the grassroots, and that is exactly what we intend to continue.”

Education Minister’s Resignation Remains Central Demand

While the government has indicated its willingness to continue discussions, protesters insist accountability must begin with the removal of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Thousands gathered again at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar protest site on Thursday, where demonstrators vowed to remain until Pradhan resigns.

“We will continue protesting until Dharmendra Pradhan is removed,” protester Sudesh Singh said. “If we stop now, we compromise the future of millions of students.”

The demonstrations were sparked after authorities cancelled the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), India’s highly competitive medical entrance examination, following the discovery that question papers had been leaked. Nearly two million students were affected by the cancellation, triggering widespread anger over repeated failures in India’s examination system.

From Online Satire to National Movement

The Cockroach Janta Party began as an online satirical campaign involving only a few hundred young supporters. It rapidly evolved into a nationwide movement after the examination scandal, attracting millions of followers on social media and drawing large crowds to protests across the country.

Monday’s march toward parliament saw tens of thousands of protesters defy restrictions before clashes broke out with police, who used tear gas and batons to disperse demonstrators.

Further confrontations occurred on Wednesday night when more than 10,000 people gathered in central Delhi.

Analysts say the movement reflects broader frustrations among India’s youth over limited employment opportunities, repeated examination scandals and declining confidence in public institutions.

Security Tightened Across the Capital

Authorities have significantly increased security measures around the protests.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation announced that 17 metro stations in central Delhi would remain closed again on Friday, marking the third major shutdown of the capital’s transport network this week.

Mobile internet services around the protest area were also disrupted, with Reuters journalists reporting patchy connectivity throughout Friday morning.

Officials say the restrictions are necessary to maintain public order, though protesters argue they are intended to suppress demonstrations.

Government Plans Legal Reforms

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Thursday that his cabinet would consider legislation aimed at strengthening punishment for those responsible for examination paper leaks.

The proposed amendments would seek faster prosecutions and tougher penalties for individuals involved in leaking examination papers.

Protest leaders, however, argue that stricter punishments alone will not solve the problem.

They say systemic reforms are needed to restore confidence in India’s examination process and prevent future leaks before they occur.

Political Stakes Continue to Rise

The protests have quickly evolved from a dispute over examination integrity into a broader political challenge.

Opposition parties, led by the Congress Party, have embraced the movement’s demands, seeing an opportunity to pressure Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of several important state elections scheduled for next year, including contests in Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Punjab.

Political analysts warn that the growing movement could reshape India’s political landscape if the government fails to address the concerns of young voters, who form a crucial part of the BJP’s electoral base.

The protests have also been accompanied by an unprecedented surge in online criticism, memes and satire targeting Modi, reflecting what observers describe as diminishing public hesitation to openly challenge one of India’s most influential political leaders.

Friday’s talks may provide the first opportunity for both sides to de-escalate the crisis, but with demonstrations set to continue regardless of the outcome, pressure on the government is unlikely to ease in the near term.

With information from Reuters.

America’s war on Iran has already cost the US nearly $110 billion. Now, the Trump administration wants another $67 billion, even after declaring victory. Al Jazeera’s Emma Withrow breaks down the growing price tag.

New Delhi, India — She darted through a sprinting crowd, running from a cloud of tear gas just above her head. Her eyes stung so badly she could barely see, yet she filmed the chaos on her phone.

“I saw policemen brutally beating up unarmed girls and peaceful children,” said Avanshika Singh, who has been turning up for student protests that shut down the national capital, demanding the education minister’s resignation.

On her return home, the 18-year-old put together a rough cut from the chaos and captioned it on Instagram: “Today, we rang Parliament’s doorbell and ran.”

The march to the Indian parliament on July 20 against serial examination paper leaks brought the nation’s capital to a standstill as tens of thousands of protesters occupied central roads leading to the country’s corridors of power. More than 100 students were injured in a crackdown by police, operating under the direct instructions of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.

But since then, Indian internet has turned into a relentless reel of police excesses: shaky smartphone footage, rapid-fire edits pulsing to hip-hop tracks, and a tidal wave of memes and expletives.

“This is the only thing anyone is talking about. If nothing, we are televising our revolution,” Singh, a teenager, told Al Jazeera, standing amid a sea of protesters choking Parliament Street on Wednesday. “The entire country today feels the sting of batons and tear gas with us.”

Twelve years ago, Modi rode to power and pioneered in many ways, leveraging social media platforms to reach the masses. Today, Gen Z is flipping his Hindu majoritarian party’s dominance on social platforms, weaponising against it the very tools the Bharatiya Janata Party has long relied on.

“Hating Modi is cool on the internet now, after years of criminalising dissent,” she said, before bursting into slogans: “Uncle Modi, go back, go back.”

Evidence of police excess

After the July 20 demonstrations against the government’s handling of paper leaks, the police denied all the protesters’ allegations and media reports of excess force in the crackdown.

But by then, social media was flooded with evidence, recorded by the protesting students.

A New Delhi police officer thrusting a baton on a female protester’s back; usage — potentially by a paramilitary force that was deployed alongside the police — of lethal pellet guns, for the first time in the national capital; a mother crying and pleading with dozens of police officials; another officer slapping and chasing unarmed students; police officers wearing Meta glasses; law enforcement agents planting a damaged car outside a protest strip; and footage where an officer casually trips the students running from tear gas.

No sight escapes the cameras at the Jantar Mantar protest strip, where thousands of protesters keep recording round the clock. The visuals from July 20 have prompted protests across India, in cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru, Patna, Lucknow and Aizawl.

The Cockroach Janta Party, a political pressure group that has been leading the students’ protest, has said the demonstrations would continue “peacefully” until three demands are met. They want Dharmendra Pradhan, the education minister, to resign; for the Modi government to assure that no criminal cases would be pursued against protesters; and for compensation of about $105,000 for families of students who died by suicide due to exam paper leaks and cancellations.

Niharika Soni, a 19-year-old, stood among the thousands-strong crowd that occupied Parliament Street on Wednesday, distributing water bottles to protesters. She did not take part in the July 20 march and did not care much about it either.

Then, the visuals appeared on her feed.

“My mother and I cried for two hours, watching the videos together at home,” she said, adding that her mother has been a staunch supporter of PM Modi.

“We hugged each other and come here every day now,” she added, now holding her mother’s hands, as part of a human chain, ready to confront government forces if attacked.

‘Leaking any responsibility’

It is also a meme fest on the Indian internet.

Protesters pose, mock and tease police personnel stationed near the protest site. Some offer flowers to them while reminding them that the officers only offered baton hits.

A stroll through the protest site and nearby roads is like scrolling an Instagram feed: posters and graffiti now line central New Delhi.

Even when they speak, protesters use language riddled with smart one-liners and mockery of the government.

“This government is leaking any responsibility towards the youth of this country,” Ipshita Gulyari, a 20-year-old, told Al Jazeera. Modi, she said, had messed with the “wrong generation”.

“There is a lot of arrogance in him — and, you know, teenagers do not tolerate that, bro.”

Another duo carried the popular Japanese manga One Piece, a symbol adopted by Gen Z protest movements worldwide. A group of friends donned fictional superhero costumes from Marvel’s Avengers: Spider-Man, Iron Man and Hulk, sitting together on police barricades, looking onto Parliament Street.

“We, the Gen Z people, are born on and for the internet. We were using Instagram before I could read a clock,” said Gulyari.

Mainstream television news channels friendly to Modi have faced accusations of not covering the protests adequately. But young people like Gulyari rely increasingly on independent small publications, and, even more, on social media.

“Gen Z is taking it lightly, being funny about it, because humour is our coping mechanism,” said 18-year-old Yashvi Kumar, a friend of Gulyari at the protest.

“In the middle of all chaos, somewhere we decided that to rebel, we need to find a way that unites us. The memes are uniting us.”

On the other hand, social media posts put up by the BJP are spammed by thousands, calling for the minister to resign.

Flipping the game

In 2014, Modi was among the first world leaders to understand and leverage social media to take his narrative to the masses. The Congress party, now in opposition, was trounced by Modi’s BJP in national elections that year, and has long struggled to keep up with the BJP’s social media dominance.

But with years in power, as India slid in multiple democratic indices, Modi’s government faced mounting accusations that it was criminalising dissent, with several critics jailed for years without a trial.

Modi’s party also mobilised extensive resources in the last decade in its so-called IT Cell, where a bunch of anonymous accounts, or creators friendly to the government, dox, troll and delegitimise social media criticism.

It is fitting, therefore, analysts say, that the biggest challenge Modi has faced on the streets stems from an online joke. After India’s chief justice casually likened the youth to “cockroaches” and “parasites”, the resulting fury led to the formation of the Cockroach Janta Party.

Before the Cockroach movement, “there was an undercurrent of memes from anonymous accounts, masked people, mocking the government,” said Anurag Minus Verma, a cultural critic and author of The Great Indian Brain Rot.

“In a post-ironical world, anything said with irony travels faster — and irony becomes a central feature of the internet during this kind of protest,” he said. “The pent-up anger found a channel at Jantar Mantar, allowing youth to do their thing, speak in their language.”

The most remarkable turnaround for Verma, he said, has been the unmasking of critics at the protest, where demonstrators ridicule and mock Modi, erasing the fear.

Verma argued that the Modi government had crushed and criminalised protests by labelling them anti-nationals and breaking them into sections. “The Gen Z protesters already identify themselves ridiculously enough: they are cockroaches,” he said. “It becomes a single identity — and that becomes easier to penetrate the virality zone.”

“Some are recreating the popular memes from Nepal, Bangladesh and Hong Kong uprisings,” he told Al Jazeera. “The criticism and hate directed at Modi in the capital is not only acceptable now, but even cool.”

Modi, in a tacit acknowledgement of the power of the social media wave that’s against his government, on Thursday morning offered his first comments on the student protests — on X.

“Nothing is more important than the welfare and future of our youth!” he wrote, before mentioning that his government had set up fast-track courts to punish those behind the paper leaks.

But the CJP’s leader Abhijeet Dipke was quick with his riposte on X.

Playing on Modi’s own words, overlaid on a photo of Education Minister Pradhan, Dipke wrote: “Hi, my name is Nothing”.

New Delhi, India – Blood spots on the walls, overturned barricades, shattered mirrors and sandals strewn across the road. A scarf here, broken glasses and a torn shirt there lie as remnants of the chaos that took over the Indian capital.

The heart of New Delhi – Parliament Street and Connaught Place, a colonial-era square – bears the imprint of Monday’s police crackdown on thousands of protesters, most of them students, who had shut down the capital, demanding that Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resign.

A swarm of protesters reached parliament’s doorstep before retreating as the police tear-gassed them. More than 100 students were injured.

“I still cannot believe my eyes that I’m in Delhi,” said Anshul Dev, an 18-year-old who grew up in the capital. “Part of it is because tear gas still stings,” he added, bursting into laughter with his group of friends. One of them had both legs bandaged.

“This government, whom our elders voted to power, is treating us like terrorists and criminals,” Dev said. “This is our country, and we are reclaiming it from their hateful politics. We are here to break the spell.”

Anger among India’s youth, the world’s largest Gen Z cohort, has been simmering for the past two months over a string of compromised entrance exams that affected millions of students. In some cases, exam papers were leaked; in others, students who sought copies of their answer scripts found that they had been wrongly graded. More than 20 students died by suicide, many citing the paper leaks.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not addressed the protests, even as he appeared smiling on Monday in parliament, barely metres away from demonstrators at one point.

Analysts said the student protests face formidable obstacles before they can extract concessions from Modi’s government. Yet the protests, the government’s refusal to hold any of its own accountable and the crackdown have also embellished a charge that the prime minister has long faced from critics and opposition parties – that although he is elected democratically, he behaves like an autocrat.

‘Protests will continue’

After dark on Monday, Abhijeet Dipke – the leader of the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), a political pressure group that called the march – returned to a torn-down stage at the CJP’s main protest site near Jantar Mantar, an 18th-century observatory that is now an important location for protests.

“This barbaric Delhi police has beaten up our students and comrades. We are heartbroken,” he said, addressing about 2,000 protesters who stayed back after the crackdown. “We will continue to resist and demand accountability from the government. We will not back down until Dharmendra Pradhan resigns.”

Dipke told the protesters that the Delhi police “brutally cracked down to crush our hopes” that Pradhan would resign. “It was only our first call to march,” he said. “There will be more. Do not lose hope.”

Volunteers began to pick up rubbish, tie a tent together and sweep the road at the Jantar Mantar site. This is where more than 100 protesters from student unions have been sleeping for nearly a month to join Sonam Wangchuk, a prominent activist, on a hunger strike to seek the minister’s resignation.

The police also rampaged through these student unions’ tarpaulin tents and belongings on Monday.

The movement gained momentum last week after the police forcibly removed Wangchuk from the protest site and restricted him to a government-run hospital, where he remains. His family and the CJP have called it “illegal detention”, but the Delhi High Court has refused immediate relief.

Wangchuk, 59, broke his hunger strike before the march on Monday; however, later he said he would be at it again after “seeing the brutality” against “peacefully protesting students”.

The Delhi police have filed at least five criminal cases against protesters related to violence, stone-throwing and vandalism during the march.

Meeting with government a ‘waste of time’

Before the march, CJP leaders said the government reached out for talks.

As thousands of demonstrators assembled in New Delhi, two CJP spokespeople met JP Nadda, India’s health minister, to convey the movement’s three demands: Pradhan’s immediate resignation, Wangchuk’s discharge from hospital and compensation of nearly $105,000 for the families of those students who died by suicide.

However, they were disillusioned by sunset. “It was a waste of our time,” said Ashutosh Ranka, a CJP spokesperson. “We were made to wait for four hours, and the minister met us for 10 minutes.”

Nadda said he met with the spokespeople “in a cordial atmosphere”, adding that he “requested all the protesters to end their sit-in and assist the administration in restoring normalcy”.

Some students have been calling for the decentralisation of the protests, so they could move beyond the CJP to demand accountability from the government.

And political analysts who spoke with Al Jazeera said maintaining the credibility of the CJP’s leadership remains one of the biggest immediate hurdles for the movement in the face of an unprecedented crowd turnout for the march.

Confronting a ‘strong man’

Since the police forcibly removed Wangchuk from the protest site, the movement and demonstrators have called on Modi to resign. Slogans targeting the prime minister reverberated through central New Delhi on Monday.

The large number of protesters “is itself a big challenge to the prime minister”, said Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, an author and Modi biographer.

As of now, he told Al Jazeera, “Modi has decided to continue with his instinctive response of not giving any concessions to protesters and continuing to project himself as a strong man with completely unshakeable will.”

The biographer added that the prime minister, who has been in power since 2014, “does not care before crushing a protest or using brute force until it cuts through his voting constituencies”.

“They will go by their gut response of a crackdown. Modi would not want to emerge from this with a bloody nose,” he added, “despite a lot of anger among youth, which shows the undercurrent of anti-incumbency.”

The simmering anger found a vent as Gen Z rallied behind a joke, the Cockroach Janta Party, after India’s chief justice equated government critics and unemployed youth to “cockroaches” and “parasites”.

Memes, online rants and students taking photos in front of police have flooded the internet in India, where they expressed anguish and took digs at the police crackdown.

Meghnad S, a YouTuber, was among the crowd of thousands in front of the Indian Parliament on Monday.

“It was insanity, and the crowd was really riled up due to police actions. It was cruel,” he told Al Jazeera from the protest site on Monday night. “But movements are always messy. This is very difficult to control. We are all cockroaches, after all. And we are still swarming here.”

By Tuesday morning, the crowd had packed the site yet again. The cockroaches had returned.

Police used batons and tear gas to disperse protesters as tens of thousands of people joined the Cockroach Janta Party’s march on parliament in New Delhi. Protesters have been demanding the resignation of India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan following exam scandals that have triggered nationwide outrage.

Claire Howard, 48, flew from Birmingham to Beauvais, northern France, for a day of food, sightseeing and sunshine — she was back in the UK by midnight and said the whole trip cost just £70

A teacher hopped on a plane to France for lunch and claims it was more affordable than a standard day out in the UK.

Claire Howard jetted off to Beauvais, France, for a leisurely day of dining, exploring and sunshine and was back home before midnight. The 48-year-old woman found return Ryanair flights for merely £27 and secured them a month beforehand.

The early morning flight departed Birmingham at approximately 7.30am, with the homebound journey leaving at 11pm. Her husband gave her a lift to the airport, and she caught a £1.80 bus to Beauvais that took 15 minutes. Claire, who is a mum, believes the entire trip, including flights, buses, food, and drink, came to roughly £70.

Claire, from Birmingham, said: “I’ve been to Paris a few times and didn’t want to travel in from Beauvais as Paris is really pricey and busy.

“I just wanted to see what was actually in Beauvais itself for a relaxing day of wandering, eating, and drinking. I just saw on Skyscanner that return flights were only £27, so I went for it.

“It’s exciting to go to a different country just for lunch or to explore for a day. The bus from the airport to the centre is very cheap. It’s just a different feeling abroad.

“It makes it feel much more like an adventure than just going somewhere at home. I don’t want to pay £50 to go to the cinema and lunch here in a shopping centre when I can go and experience so much more abroad for a very reasonable price.”

The English teacher spent her morning exploring the city’s weekly Saturday market, treating herself to a coffee and a pain au chocolat for just £4. She then unwound with a drink in the town square, soaking up live music before hopping in a £10 Uber to Plan d’Eau du Canada, a beloved lakeside destination.

For lunch, she put together an £8 French-style picnic featuring a supermarket baguette, cheese, and a small bottle of wine, which she enjoyed while reading and sunbathing beside the water. Her packed itinerary also took in Beauvais Cathedral and the neighbouring Musée de l’Oise, both of which were completely free to enter.

The day wrapped up with a Pad Thai supper at a nearby Thai restaurant for roughly £10, before she made her way back to the airport for her evening flight home. She also picked up an £8 bracelet as a memento of her trip.

Claire said: “I’d say it could probably be done even cheaper. I do stay over in some places depending on flight times but it wasn’t necessary for this trip as the flight times fit and I could still have an evening meal and a full day.

“There’s no point in staying over to get a flight home the next morning as it’s a waste of accommodation money.” Claire admits she’s become completely addicted to budget day trips overseas after stumbling across bargain flights from Birmingham Airport, jetting off to a new destination almost every month.

Just this year alone, she’s already ticked off Bergamo in Italy, Malaga in Spain, Valetta in Malta, Poznan in Poland, and Porto in Portugal. She’s already snapped up return flights to Poland and Berlin in August for just £70.

Claire said: “I’m just led by what is possible and affordable. I can’t take time off at all in term time but I have Tuesdays off so I do like to make use of them.

“I just love the way you can do and see so much in the same time that you might waste a day at home just watching Netflix and doomscrolling. I usually find the best prices four to six weeks in advance. My husband doesn’t like short trips so he’s not jealous.”

On Tuesday, the Chairman of the Knesset’s Education Committee, Zvi Sukkot of the far-right Religious Zionist Party, arrived at a Palestinian school in East Jerusalem for a “surprise visit” – his second in two weeks. He did not come to evaluate pedagogy or classroom conditions or needs. Instead, he smashed the school’s entrance sign because it featured a Palestinian flag and publicly pledged to shut it down.

This storming of the school was more than just a publicity stunt meant to appeal to his political base ahead of Israel’s October 2026 elections. It was the physical embodiment of a sweeping state campaign targeting Palestinian education in unlawfully occupied and annexed East Jerusalem.

Sukkot is using his position to physically police Palestinian schools. This move comes on top of the Knesset’s aggressive legislative campaign to destroy Palestinian education in East Jerusalem that lawmakers have pushed in recent years.

One such law, passed in January 2026, bars graduates of Palestinian universities in the West Bank from working as teachers in Israel and in East Jerusalem. This law is based on racist ideology and extremist claims that graduates of these universities are inherently dangerous and morally unfit to be educators.

The motives of the law’s proponents were made clear during Knesset deliberations: advancing what several MKs called the “Israelisation” of the educational system and of the students, even at the expense of access to education. In a May 2025 Education Committee session, one Likud MK claimed that this law is needed as teachers who graduate from Palestinian universities “do not cultivate Israelisation” among their students.

The law passed despite the devastating consequences it is bound to have on the already fragile and disadvantaged Palestinian education system in East Jerusalem. This system is largely dependent on graduates of West Bank universities – who are overwhelmingly women – and it already has a serious shortage of teaching staff and classrooms.

Another law, passed in November 2024, which is widely referred to as the “Silencing Law”, gives the Israeli Ministry of Education full discretion to suspend or dismiss teachers through a fast-track administrative process. It targets speech the ministry deems to be “incitement to terrorism”, based on the ambiguous and arbitrary clauses of the Israeli Counter-Terrorism Law, which has become a catch-all mechanism to criminalise Palestinian speech.

The 2024 law also gives the ministry the right to revoke funding from schools on these same grounds, potentially leading to their closure.

Here too, the Knesset Committee’s deliberations on this law revealed an explicit targeting of the Palestinian education system in East Jerusalem and lawmakers’ views that this system is a security threat that must be dealt with. As a Likud MK said during an early 2024 Education Committee discussion on this proposed legislation: “It’s very important that they become Zionists… If I was an Arab from East Jerusalem, the first thing I would be is a Zionist. Above all”.

MK Sukkot’s pledge to shut down the school he attacked is not an idle threat. It follows the closure of six schools in East Jerusalem and its outskirts in 2025, which left 800 Palestinian children suddenly without access to formal education. These closures were the immediate result of the 2024 and 2025 anti-UNRWA laws passed by the Knesset.

The legislation and MK Sukkot’s physical vandalism of a Palestinian school demonstrate the state’s efforts to impose “Israelisation” on young Palestinian students living under occupation, and to erase any trace of Palestinian education and identity, even at the cost of trampling on every legitimate pedagogical need along the way.

Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel – is currently challenging all of these laws before the Israeli Supreme Court, with pending petitions against the ban on Palestinian university graduates, the “Silencing Law” targeting teachers’ political expression, and the anti-UNRWA laws.

We will continue to do all that we can to legally resist the campaign against Palestinian education. But the state’s assault on Palestinian schools will not stop until there is genuine international pressure on the Israeli government to stop its violations of nearly all the human rights of the occupied Palestinian population in East Jerusalem, including the right to education and the right to dignity.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

A protest by India’s youth-led Cockroach Janta Party has intensified after activist Sonam Wangchuk was forcibly moved to a hospital on the 21st day of his hunger strike. Party founder Abhijeet Dipke was splashed with ink after beginning a fast in solidarity.

Nigerian security forces have rescued 39 schoolchildren and five teachers abducted nearly two months ago in Oyo state. Authorities say eight suspected kidnappers have been arrested.

A British mum took her kids out of school for a family holiday ended up receiving a £160 fine – but says the overall saving on the trip meant it was worth it

A mum slapped with a £160 fine for taking her son out of school for a family holiday says she has no regrets because ultimately she saved £1,280 on her trip.

Thea Rule decided to take her son Roman, five, out of school to jet off for a week in Majorca, after her request for authorised absence was refused by the school.

“I don’t care what anyone says, he’s in reception class and we’re getting on that plane,” Thea told NeedToKnow. “I believe that my child should be able to enjoy family time with us. I asked via a handwritten letter but was refused. He is in reception class and we did not think it would impact his learning.”

Thea claims the same holiday during the school holidays would have cost an eye-watering £1,440 more because of soaring travel prices. The school issued her with a £160 fine, but the family still saved £1,280 overall by travelling during term time.

She said: “I would never consider taking Roman away during term time if he was doing his SATS or GCSEs. But a week off at the age of five…we as his parents did not believe it would hinder his education. He experienced culture, social interactions and learned other bits along the way.

“Roman was able to learn about the old town of Alcudia, go swimming and snorkelling with sea wildlife and enjoy time with us and his younger brother, all things I believe to be fantastic experiences. Roman is successful at school and is on course to meet his learning outcomes before the end of the year.”

Thea said the huge difference in holiday prices was the main reason behind the decision, and claimed that after she shared her story online, dozens of parents backed her stance.

After sharing her story online, she claimed that dozens of parents backed her stance.

Thea said: “They all agreed reception is not a school year that requires as much attendance as other years. I thanked them for understanding and I know others do the same. We were honest and requested the holiday but others I know say their children are sick and therefore don’t get fined for taking their children out.”

The mother-of-two has encouraged other parents to book holidays strategically if they are looking to save money, adding that she believes the memories made with family outweighed the worrying about fines.

While for Thea and her family there was a saving to be had, there’s one little-known rule around term-time fines that families should be aware of. A lot of parents don’t realise that the fine isn’t applied per family, but per parent per child.

Fines also need to be paid as soon as they are issued. In England, the initial fine per person is £80 if paid within 21 days, but jumps to £160 if paid within 28 days.

But with the per parent/child rule, that means if two adults go away with two children, you could instantly be facing a cost of up to £320. Meanwhile, a second offence could see you hit with a higher £160 fine, so for a family of four that could be £640 total; depending on your choice of holiday and timing, that may negate the savings potentially gained from travelling inside school holidays.

Still, it’s no surprise that parents like Thea are still choosing to take kids out of school and face the fines instead. Travel prices notoriously hike up during the school holidays, sometimes even tripling including UK holiday parks.

Do you think parents should be fined for taking their kids out of school for holidays? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com

The just-approved state budget strips authority from the elected state superintendent of public instruction, transferring power in January to an appointee of the governor, dramatically changing the oversight and management of a public school system serving more than 6 million students from preschool through 12th grade.

The change was pushed through by Gov. Gavin Newsom at the urging of academics and education reformers who have long criticized how the state’s $149 billion public education system is governed.

In essence, the change consolidates increased power within the governor’s office — streamlining and largely replacing a diffuse system in which the state superintendent has significant influence, but no direct control over budget and policy.

Supporters hail the move as bringing accountability and coherence — through the governor — to all the departments and agenices involved in education.

“The approval of education governance reform, over a century in the making, is a monumental victory for California’s students that finally establishes a sensible system to best support them,” said Ted Lempert, president of Children Now, an Oakland-based research and advocacy organization. “We commend Governor Newsom for his leadership in making this much needed change a reality.”

Critics called the change an unjustified, undemocratic side-stepping of the state constitution and the will of voters.

“California’s constitutional architecture deliberately established an independent schools chief to ensure that public education answers directly to the voters,” wrote a labor coalition that included the two largest statewide teacher unions. “Replacing an elected constitutional officer with a partisan bureaucrat serving strictly at the pleasure of the executive branch breaks that model, permanently muting the public voice when democratic transparency matters most.”

The critics noted that voters have defeated every attempt to eliminate the elected state superintendent.

The latest effort bypasses the ballot box by keeping the elected position, but stripping most of its powers. The bill did not go through the typically lengthy legislative process; it was instead folded as a trailer bill into the state budget.

School district management groups, such as the one representing county superintendents, were more supportive of the changes.

Diffuse authority and accountability

Authority over education has long been distributed among different officeholders.

The Legislature passes laws related to education. The governor chooses which to sign. The governor also proposes what to pay for in education through his budget plan. The Legislature can amend the plan and has the responsibility to approve it.

The elected state superintendent runs the state Department of Education and serves as the administrative lead for the state Board of Education, whose members have been appointed by the governor to four-year terms. The superintendent does not have a vote on the board and must follow board authority in some areas but not others.

The board approves state education policy and curriculum.

“The current state system of support and accountability for local districts is uneven,” resulting in “islands of high quality surrounded by deserts where nothing much has improved,” said former State Board of Education President Michael Kirst, an emeritus Stanford professor of education. Instruction across the entire state was “unlikely to improve” under the status quo, he said.

How the office will change

All of the state superintendent’s authority will transfer to the education commissioner, who will be named by the governor and then approved by the state Senate.

That means the next governor will gain direct control or control through appointees over developing and spending the education budget — including state and federal grants — and developing education policies.

Under the old system, the state superintendent has overseen grants while also interpreting state education law and making sure schools complied.

The new law sets out the superintendent’s role instead as the “independently elected nonpartisan voice for the public interest in the governance of the state’s educational systems.” This role includes reporting to the Legislature “on the condition of education based on statewide engagement and travel to identify significant trends, challenges, and emerging issues.”

Critics worry that amounts to a whole lot of nothing.

That may be literally the case initially, as the new law gives governor’s new education commissioner until Oct. 1, 2027 to propose further reforms including “the future role and staffing” of the elected superintendent.

Until then, the new law provides for the superintendent to have several deputies and a skeleton clerical staff.

The superintendent also becomes one of 11 members of the state Board of Education and one of 19 members of the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges.

Change opposed by candidates for the office

The overhaul occurs as two candidates vie to become the elected superintendent in November. Both have strongly opposed the change.

The race pits Republican Sonja Shaw, who finished first in the primary, against Democrat Richard Barrera.

Shaw, who decried the change as a “blatant power grab” that “silences voters,” said she had a game plan for how she intended to use the previous powers of the office if elected.

Sonja Shaw candidate for state superintendent

(Photo courtesy of Sonja Shaw)

“An outsider serving as state superintendent who refuses to simply defer to Sacramento could use the office’s authority over grants, contracts, federal programs, accountability systems, fiscal standards, parent resources, and administrative functions to prioritize results over ideology,” Shaw said.

“In practice, that could mean focusing resources on proven reading and math instruction, increasing transparency, fostering increased parental involvement, protecting fairness and safety for girls in sports,” she said.

If elected, Barrera said he hopes to work immediately to fill in the blanks with a meaningful role for the superintendent and to bring in important education voices that he said have been left out so far.

Richard Barrera, a candidate for state schools superintendent

(Sam Hodgson/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

“The whole purpose of this restructuring is bringing people into alignment, with the focus on goals for student learning, and I’d say we have a long way to go,” Barrera said.

Both candidates said there was potential grounds for a legal challenge to the rewritten duties.

California Teachers Assn. President David Goldberg also was among the opposing voices.

“There’s always tons of issues going on for a governor, and education issues are likely to be put on the back burner.” State voters, he added, “have really wanted an independent voice around public education,” someone willing at times to stand up to the governor.

Supporters of the change counter that the governor — who has to answer to a broad base of interests — would be less susceptible to education special-interest groups, including teacher unions.

The central tenets of the new framework are based on a December 2025 report from Policy Analysis for California Education, a nonpartisan center that brings together researchers from Stanford, UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Davis and USC.