Unacademy sacks teacher who appealed students to vote for educated candidates

PTI, Aug 18, 2023, 8:09 AM IST

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New Delhi: Unacademy has sacked a teacher, Karan Sangwan, who appealed students to vote for educated candidates, with the edtech firm saying that classroom is not a place to share personal opinions and views.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal also weighed on the issue and wondered whether asking people to vote for educated person is a crime.

Unacademy co-founder Roman Saini said that Sangwan was in breach of contract and therefore the company had to part ways with him.

Sangwan has started his own YouTube channel and announced that he will post details around the controversy on August 19.

“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.

Saini in a tweet on the matter said Unacademy is an education platform that is deeply committed to imparting 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. 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,” Saini said.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a message posted on X said, “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 21st century.”

Y Sathish Reddy, chairman of Telangana State Renewable Energy Development Corporation, also posted on X, “With all due respect to #Unacademy, it is highly inappropriate to suspend a teacher who simply requested not to vote for illiterates. They are liable for a proper explanation! #UninstallUnacademy.”