After Gen Z, India’s Gen Alpha rises, demanding education reforms

School students across multiple states have held protests in recent weeks, seeking better conditions — seemingly inspired by the Gen Z protests that challenged the Narendra Modi government.

School children holding Indian flags ahead of the country's Independence Day at Ranbir Singh Pura, near the border with Pakistan, Thursday, August 13, 2026. Children in different parts of India have taken to protests against the condition of their schools [Channi Anand/ AP Photo]

Bengaluru, India — It was past time for class, but none of the 122 students at the government-run primary school in Samuhi Bhatpurwa village in India’s Uttar Pradesh were ready for lessons.

For once, they had something to teach the school authorities.

Dressed in their red-and-white checked uniforms, the students — some as young as six — refused to enter their classrooms until they received an assurance that the school would build the new building authorities had promised. Some, such as eight-year-old Priya*, held India’s national flag.

The current structure is old and dilapidated. A portion of the school lies in rubble — unrepaired — after a wall fell on a girl, severely injuring her in 2023.

Since then, the children have been asking for a new building for their safety. But no one listened to them until they launched their unlikely protest on August 22 , children no older than 10 challenging school and government authorities. As news spread that the youngsters were on strike, a senior education department official visited the school.

Block education officer Deepak Awasthi told the children that a new building would be constructed soon. That was when the pupils agreed to go back home as it was already close to evening.

“I am happy. We will get a new building. We (the children) dread the school building would one day fall. Its condition is poor,” Priya told Al Jazeera. “The fear does not let us concentrate on our studies. That is why we all protested.”

Priya and her friends aren’t alone. Children in at least 10 Indian states , including Maharashtra, Bihar, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh, among others, have launched similar protests in schools since late July. Protests have been reported in rural areas where government-run schools are crumbling under neglect.

The protests represent a challenge, not only for India’s education system, but also point to a new political test for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government when it is already struggling to retain the support of young people.

Supporters of India’s Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) celebrate after India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan resigned following days of protests demanding his resignation over examination paper leaks, in New Delhi, India, July 25, 2026 [Adnan Abidi/ Reuters]

From Gen Z to Gen Alpha

Starting in early June, thousands of Gen Z protesters flooded Jantar Mantar, the protest hub in the heart of India’s capital city, New Delhi. Their most pressing demand was accountability after a series of high-profile examination paper leaks, which in turn were seen as responsible for dozens of young Indians dying by suicide.

But as the Modi government tried to cast the protesters as extremists backed by foreign forces rather than engaging with their grievances, their questions of those in power grew: India’s vast unemployment and underemployment crisis became another flashpoint for the protests.

The popular youth movement was led by the Cockroach Janata Party , or CJP, a satirical society formed in May to express angst over large-scale unemployment and systematic flaws in the education system.

When security forces that report directly to Modi’s de facto deputy, Amit Shah, brutally cracked down on protesters peacefully marching towards the Indian parliament, the Gen Z youth movement drew widespread popular support from across the nation.

As the numbers of protesters swelled and their anger at being beaten up simply for demanding education reforms grew, the Modi government relented. Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, from Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, resigned.

The CJP has since turned its attention to the condition of India’s schools.

School students, such as in Samuhi Bhatpurwa, are now doing something that is rare in India’s cultural traditions: questioning teachers and those in authority.

Coming close on the heels of the Gen Z protests, this new generation of protesters is being widely described as heralding a Gen Alpha movement.

Indian school children eat their mid-day meal at a government-run school in Ganjansoo village near the India Pakistan International Border in Jammu, India, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. Poor quality mid-day meals have been a trigger for some of the recent school protests [Channi Anand/ AP Photo]

What ails Indian schools

India operates one of the world’s largest school systems, teaching 247 million students in 1.5 million schools. About 70 percent of the schools are run by federal, state or local governments, the rest either by charities or private institutions.

The government’s official audit of schools in 2025-2026 reported improvements in access to education and suggested that the teacher-pupil ratio was improving — one teacher for every 24 students. School dropout rates are falling too, the data shows.

But the reality for many students and their parents is very different. Some schools operate in buildings that are also used to rear cattle.

“The children are demanding their rights. They want teachers, benches, school buildings, drinking water, electricity and toilets,” Bengaluru-based education rights activist, Nagasimha Rao, told Al Jazeera. “Unfortunately, for a long time, the basic infrastructure and manpower to run schools have been missing. It is the story of most government-run schools across the country.”

“Is it because poor children study in these schools?” asked Rao, referring to government-run schools, where the student body is predominantly composed of children from economically and socially marginalised communities.

In one of the first protests in the current wave, students of Sarvodaya Inter College in Uttar Pradesh came to their school on July 28 in their blue-and-white school uniforms and started protesting. The school, which has classes up to grade 12, lacks drinking water, electricity and even benches.

“No one can imagine how difficult it is for us to study in the school. There is no electricity, so no fans during the hot and humid summers. We don’t have a drinking water facility. Many students sit on the floor because we don’t have enough benches. So we decided to protest,” said class 12 student Manoj*.

Manoj’s friend and classmate, Neelam*, added that the students had been asking for basic facilities for a long time. “This time we decided to hold a formal protest with placards and sloganeering.”

Similar protests followed. On July 31 , students of Vaidyanath Vidyalaya in Parli in the western state of Maharashtra organised a demonstration against the shortage of faculty members. The school was established in 1941.

Gen Z supports Gen Alpha

On August 15 , when India celebrated its Independence Day, the CJP launched its grassroots initiative, ‘School Thik Karo (Fix The Schools).’

Ratna Singh, the CJP’s legal affairs head, told Al Jazeera that their movement fully backed the protests in schools across the country, seeking to improve the education system.

“During our Jantar Mantar protest in Delhi, we met many young children and their parents who had travelled from rural areas,” Singh said. “They spoke about the poor condition of schools, the shortage of teachers and potholed, untarred roads leading to schools, among other issues. It is also a natural progression of our (the CJP’s) movement to fix schools for a better future of our children.”

Several instances of violence were reported as CJP members visited schools in different parts of the country to check their conditions and speak to children.

Gaurav Bharti, a member of the CJP from Uttar Pradesh, alleged that “the police and local goons are threatening members of the CJP”.

“After I visited the primary school in Uttar Pradesh’s Karanpur Majra (a rural belt) on August 16 and exposed its poor conditions, the police force is after me,” he said. “The headmistress of the school has filed a police complaint against me. But we are not scared. We are demanding what is already mentioned in laws like the RTE Act.”

The Right to Education (RTE) Act, which came into effect in 2009, made education a fundamental right for children aged six to 14. It clearly defines infrastructural standards, including “all-weather buildings, water, sanitation and safety for children.” It also states that the teacher-student ratio should be at least 1:30.

But while the national average meets that bar, the government’s own data shows that India has 100,843 schools that have only a single teacher — across all grades. About 2.9 million children are enrolled in those schools. Conversely, India also has 5,663 ‘ghost schools’ — institutions with no enrolment.

Substandard food provided in India’s massive school lunch programme — known as the midday meal scheme — has often been another cause of protests.

In Bihar’s Simuara village on July 28 , around 50 students walked 4km to meet a senior bureaucrat to protest against the quality of the midday meals they were being fed. The school does not have access to piped water, so raw ingredients are not cleaned before they are cooked. The students complained that the quality of rice, lentils and vegetables was substandard — vegetables, they said, were often almost rotten.

What India’s school system needs are systemic fixes that “involve providing equally good infrastructure everywhere; hiring and enabling teachers; incentivising families to send their children to school as well as holding them accountable for non-compliance,” said Chennai-based educationist and political scientist, Swarna Rajagopalan.

The school protests also portend a future political challenge for governments in power. More than 30 percent of India’s population is under the age of 18. Many of those joining school protests today will be of voting age in 2029, when India next holds its national elections.

“The children are our future. If they don’t get proper education in a conducive atmosphere, it would derail India’s growth. These children are tomorrow’s voters too,” Akash Sarkar, an education activist from the eastern state of West Bengal told Al Jazeera. “They will definitely vote keeping in mind the interest of the country’s education system.”

To Sujata Gowda, a student at Bangalore University in Bengaluru, the recent wave of protests — first among the Gen Z and now Gen Alpha — isn’t surprising: Students across the country, she said, felt abandoned by the system.

“This angst has been brewing for a long time. That is why even school children are protesting. Our schools, colleges and universities need to be revamped,” the 21-year old, who is pursuing postgraduate studies in mathematics, told Al Jazeera. “We need qualified teachers, examinations should be conducted fairly, infrastructure should be improved.

“For that the authorities must listen to students,” she added. “Otherwise, more protests are likely to take place across the country.”

*The names of school children have been changed.

最近几周，多个邦的学生举行了抗议活动，要求改善学习条件——这似乎受到了挑战纳伦德拉·莫迪政府的 Z 世代抗议活动的启发。

2026年8月13日星期四，在靠近巴基斯坦边境的兰比尔·辛格普拉，学生们手持印度国旗，迎接即将到来的印度独立日。印度各地儿童举行抗议活动，反对学校的恶劣条件。[Channi Anand/ AP Photo]

印度班加罗尔——上课时间已经过了，但印度北方邦萨穆希·巴特普尔瓦村这所公立小学的122名学生没有一个做好上课的准备。

这一次，他们终于有东西可以教给学校当局了。

学生们身着红白格子校服，其中一些年仅六岁，他们拒绝进入教室，直到学校保证会按照当局承诺建造新教学楼。一些学生，例如八岁的普里亚*，手持印度国旗。

目前的校舍老旧破败。2023年，一堵墙倒塌砸中一名女孩，导致她重伤，此后学校的一部分已成废墟，至今未作修复。

从那时起，孩子们就一直要求学校为他们建造一座新的教学楼，以确保他们的安全。但直到8月22日，他们发起了一场出人意料的抗议活动，才有人理会他们的诉求。这些孩子年龄都不到10岁，他们勇敢地挑战了学校和政府当局。孩子们罢课的消息传开后，一位教育部门的高级官员视察了学校。

区教育官员迪帕克·阿瓦斯蒂告诉孩子们，一座新教学楼很快就会建成。这时，由于天色已近黄昏，学生们同意回家。

“我很高兴。我们将拥有一座新教学楼。我们（孩子们）一直担心这栋旧教学楼有一天会倒塌。它的状况很差，”普里亚告诉半岛电视台。“这种恐惧让我们无法集中精力学习。这就是我们抗议的原因。”

普里亚和她的朋友们并非孤例。自7月下旬以来，包括马哈拉施特拉邦、比哈尔邦、拉贾斯坦邦、贾坎德邦和中央邦在内的至少10个印度邦的儿童都在学校发起了类似的抗议活动。据报道，在一些政府办学疏于管理、破败不堪的农村地区，也出现了抗议活动。

这些抗议活动不仅对印度的教育体系构成挑战，也预示着总理纳伦德拉·莫迪政府将面临新的政治考验，因为该政府目前正努力维持年轻人的支持。

2026年7月25日，在印度新德里，印度蟑螂人民党（CJP）的支持者在印度教育部长达尔门德拉·普拉丹因考试试卷泄露事件辞职后庆祝。此前，抗议活动持续数日，要求普拉丹辞职。[阿德南·阿比迪/路透社]

从Z世代到阿尔法世代

从六月初开始，数千名Z世代抗议者涌入位于印度首都新德里市中心的抗议中心——简塔·曼塔天文台。他们最迫切的诉求是追究一系列备受瞩目的考试试卷泄露事件的责任，这些泄露事件被认为是导致数十名印度年轻人自杀的罪魁祸首。

但莫迪政府试图将抗议者描绘成受外国势力支持的极端分子，而不是回应他们的不满，这导致他们对当权者的质疑日益增多：印度巨大的失业和就业不足危机成为抗议活动的另一个爆发点。

这场广受欢迎的青年运动由蟑螂人民党（Cockroach Janata Party，简称CJP）领导，这是一个讽刺性社团，成立于五月，旨在表达对大规模失业和教育系统系统性缺陷的不满。

当直接向莫迪的实际副手阿米特·沙阿汇报的安全部队残酷镇压向印度议会和平游行的抗议者时，Z世代青年运动获得了全国范围内的广泛民众支持。

随着抗议人数不断增加，以及他们仅仅因为要求教育改革就遭到殴打，愤怒情绪日益高涨，莫迪政府最终让步。来自莫迪所属的印度人民党的教育部长达尔门德拉·普拉丹辞职。

此后，首席大法官将注意力转向了印度学校的状况。

像萨穆希·巴特普尔瓦这样的学校学生现在正在做一件在印度文化传统中很少见的事情：质疑老师和权威人士。

紧随 Z 世代抗议活动之后，这新一代的抗议者被广泛认为是阿尔法世代运动的先兆。

2026年5月13日星期三，在印度查谟地区靠近印巴国际边界的甘詹苏村，印度小学生在一所公立学校吃午餐。午餐质量差是近期一些学校抗议活动的导火索之一。[Channi Anand/ AP Photo]

印度学校出了什么问题？

印度拥有世界上规模最大的学校系统之一，在150万所学校中为2.47亿学生提供教育。其中约70%的学校由联邦、州或地方政府运营，其余学校则由慈善机构或私立机构运营。

政府2025-2026年度的学校官方审计报告显示，教育机会有所改善，师生比例也在提高——平均每24名学生配备一名教师。数据显示，辍学率也在下降。

但对许多学生及其家长来说，现实情况却截然不同。有些学校的校舍也兼作牛场。

“孩子们正在争取他们的权利。他们想要老师、课桌椅、校舍、饮用水、电力和厕所，”班加罗尔的教育权利活动家纳加辛哈·拉奥告诉半岛电视台。“不幸的是，长期以来，学校的基本基础设施和人力都严重不足。这几乎是全国所有公立学校的通病。”

“是因为贫困儿童在这些学校读书吗？”拉奥问道，他指的是政府开办的学校，这些学校的学生主要由来自经济和社会边缘化社区的儿童组成。

在这一波抗议浪潮中，北方邦萨沃达亚中学（Sarvodaya Inter College）的学生于7月28日身穿蓝白校服来到学校，开始抗议。这所学校设有从小学到高中十二年级的课程，但却缺乏饮用水、电力，甚至连长椅都没有。

“没有人能想象我们在学校学习有多艰难。学校没有电，所以炎热潮湿的夏天没有风扇。我们没有饮用水设施。很多学生只能坐在地上，因为长凳不够。所以我们决定抗议，”12年级学生Manoj*说道。

马诺杰的朋友兼同学尼拉姆*补充说，学生们长期以来一直在要求提供基本设施。“这次我们决定举行正式的抗议活动，举着标语牌，喊着口号。”

类似的抗议活动随后发生。7月31日，位于印度西部马哈拉施特拉邦帕尔利镇的瓦伊迪亚纳特学校的学生组织了一场示威游行，抗议师资短缺。该校成立于1941年。

Z世代支持阿尔法世代

8 月 15 日，在印度庆祝独立日之际，CJP 发起了基层倡议“School Thik Karo（修缮学校）”。

正义人民运动（CJP）法律事务负责人拉特纳·辛格告诉半岛电视台，他们的运动完全支持全国各地学校的抗议活动，旨在改善教育体系。

辛格说：“在德里简塔曼塔天文台的抗议活动中，我们遇到了许多从农村地区赶来的孩子和他们的父母。他们谈到了学校条件恶劣、师资短缺以及通往学校的道路坑洼不平、没有铺设沥青等问题。这也是我们（人民正义党）为改善学校环境、为孩子们创造更美好未来而开展的运动的自然延伸。”

据报道，CJP成员在走访全国各地学校，了解学校情况并与孩子们交谈时，发生了多起暴力事件。

来自北方邦的CJP成员Gaurav Bharti声称，“警察和当地恶棍正在威胁CJP成员”。

“8月16日，我走访了北方邦卡兰普尔·马杰拉（一个农村地区）的一所小学，揭露了那里的恶劣条件，之后警方就开始追捕我，”他说。“这所学校的校长已经向警方报案。但我们并不害怕。我们只是在争取《义务教育法》等法律中已经明确规定的权利。”

《义务教育法》（RTE法案）于2009年生效，该法案规定6至14岁儿童享有受教育权，并将其视为一项基本权利。该法案明确规定了基础设施标准，包括“全天候建筑、饮用水、卫生设施和儿童安全保障”。此外，该法案还规定师生比例至少应为1:30。

虽然全国平均水平符合标准，但政府自身的数据显示，印度有100,843所学校（涵盖所有年级）只有一名教师。约有290万名儿童在这些学校就读。另一方面，印度还有5,663所“幽灵学校”——即没有学生入学的学校。

印度大规模学校午餐计划（又称“午餐计划”）提供的食物质量低劣，这常常是引发抗议的另一个原因。

7月28日，在比哈尔邦的西穆阿拉村，约50名学生步行4公里，前往会见一位高级官员，抗议学校午餐的质量问题。由于学校没有自来水，食材在烹饪前未经清洗。学生们抱怨说，米饭、扁豆和蔬菜的质量都很差——他们说，蔬菜经常几乎腐烂了。

钦奈的教育家兼政治学家斯瓦尔纳·拉贾戈帕兰表示，印度的学校系统需要的是系统性改革，“包括在各地提供同样良好的基础设施；聘用和培养教师；激励家庭送孩子上学，并追究他们不遵守规定的责任”。

此次校园抗议活动也预示着执政政府未来将面临政治挑战。印度超过30%的人口年龄在18岁以下。今天参加校园抗议的许多人，到2029年印度举行下一次全国大选时，都将达到投票年龄。

“孩子们是我们的未来。如果他们不能在良好的环境中接受适当的教育，就会阻碍印度的发展。这些孩子也是未来的选民，”来自东部西孟加拉邦的教育活动家阿卡什·萨卡尔告诉半岛电视台。“他们一定会根据国家教育体系的利益来投票。”

对于班加罗尔大学的学生苏贾塔·高德来说，最近这波抗议浪潮——先是 Z 世代，现在是 Alpha 世代——并不令人惊讶：她说，全国各地的学生都感到被体制抛弃了。

“这种焦虑情绪由来已久。这就是为什么连小学生都在抗议的原因。我们的中小学、学院和大学都需要改革，”这位21岁、正在攻读数学研究生学位的年轻人告诉半岛电视台。“我们需要合格的教师，考试应该公平公正，基础设施也应该得到改善。”

她补充说：“为此，当局必须倾听学生的声音。否则，全国各地可能会爆发更多抗议活动。”

*文中所有学生姓名均为化名。