Shruti Suman
On Thursday, Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi, expressed his concerns about the decision made by ed-tech platform Unacademy to terminate the employment of a tutor who encouraged students to vote for candidates with education in elections.
Unacademy took the step to let go of Karan Sangwan, an instructor who, during a lecture, advised students without specifying names, to avoid electing uneducated individuals into positions of authority and instead cast their votes for knowledgeable candidates in the upcoming elections. The ed-tech company clarified that they do not permit educators to express personal opinions during teaching sessions, as it could disrupt the learning process.
Kejriwal questioned, “Should appealing to educated people to vote be considered a wrongdoing? While I hold respect for those who are illiterate, it’s essential for our representatives not to be uneducated. In this era of science and technology, uneducated public officials cannot contribute to a modern 21st-century India,” he wrote on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Mr. Sangwan announced that he would discuss the controversy on his YouTube channel on Saturday.
“In recent days, a video has been circulating widely, which has landed me in a controversy. As a consequence of this, many of my students who are preparing for judicial service exams are facing significant repercussions. Alongside them, I too am having to deal with the aftermath,” he stated.
Unacademy’s co-founder, Roman Saini, pointed out that Mr. Sangwan breached the terms of his contract, which stipulated his obligation to maintain impartiality in the classroom. Consequently, the company was compelled to terminate his employment.
“To ensure this, we have established a stringent Code of Conduct for all our educators, aimed at guaranteeing our learners access to unbiased knowledge. Our learners are our priority in all our endeavors. The classroom is not a platform to share personal viewpoints as they could inaccurately influence students. Given the circumstances, we had to part ways with Karan Sangwan due to his violation of the Code of Conduct,” Mr. Saini explained on X.
We are committed to delivering quality education as an educational platform. To achieve this, we have put in place a rigorous Code of Conduct for all our educators to ensure our learners have access to impartial knowledge.
Our learners are at the heart of…
The dismissal of Mr. Sangwan prompted criticism from both academics and the general public, with the hashtag “#UninstallUnacademy” trending on X.
