Educational technology company Unacademy sacked a teacher who allegedly appealed to students to vote for educated candidates. Defending its decision, the edtech firm said that the classroom is not a place to share personal opinions and views.
Delhi CM questions Unacademy's decision
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also weighed on the issue and wondered whether urging people to support educated candidates constitutes a crime. "Is it a crime to appeal to vote for educated people? If someone is illiterate, personally I respect them. But public representatives cannot be illiterate. This is the era of science and technology. Illiterate public representatives can never build the modern India of the 21st century," he wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Unacademy co-founder releases statement
Meanwhile, Unacademy co-founder Roman Saini said that teacher, Karan Sangwan, was in breach of contract and therefore the company had to part ways with him. Saini also stressed that Unacademy is an education platform dedicated to providing high-quality education. "To do this we have in place a strict Code of Conduct for all our educators with the intention of ensuring that our learners have access to unbiased knowledge. Our learners are at the centre of everything we do," he wrote on X.
Saini further said that the classroom is not a place to share personal opinions and views as they can wrongly influence them. "In the current situation, we were forced to part ways with Karan Sangwan as he was in breach of the Code of Conduct," Unacademy's co-founder added.
Sacked teacher to share information over controversy
Following his sacking, Sangwan floated his own YouTube channel and stated that he will share information about the controversy on August 19. Saini also stressed that Unacademy is an education platform dedicated to providing high-quality education. "From the past few days, a video has been going viral due to which I am in controversy and because of that controversy my several students who are preparing for judicial services examinations are facing a lot of consequences. Along with them, I have to also face consequences," Sangwan said. In the controversial video mentioned by Sangwan, he appealed to students to vote for educated candidates next time.
(With inputs from PTI)
