Edtech company Unacademy has sacked a teacher after a video of him urging his students to vote for educated candidates went viral on social media. Pointing out that the classroom is not a place to share personal opinions and views, Unacademy co-founder Roman Saini said the online education platform was forced to part ways with the educator, Karan Sangwan, for the "breach" of the strict "Code of Conduct" the firm has in place. We are 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… — Roman Saini (@RomanSaini) August 17, 2023 Taking to X, previously Twitter, Saini wrote: "We are 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." He added: "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." In the controversial video, widely shared on X, Sangwan could be heard asking the students to not vote for those who only focus on changing names, and to elect well-educated politicians. क्या पढ़े लिखे लोगों को वोट देने की अपील करना अपराध है? यदि कोई अनपढ़ है, व्यक्तिगत तौर पर मैं उसका सम्मान करता हूँ। लेकिन जनप्रतिनिधि अनपढ़ नहीं हो सकते। ये साइंस और टेक्नोलॉजी का ज़माना है। 21वीं सदी के आधुनिक भारत का निर्माण अनपढ़ जनप्रतिनिधि कभी नहीं कर सकते। — Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) August 17, 2023 Sangwan has now started his own YouTube channel and announced that he will post details of the controversy on August 19, news agency PTI reported. Reacting to the reports of Sangwan's sacking, Delhi Chief Minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal wondered if it is a crime to ask (people) to vote for educated people. "Is it a crime to appeal to vote for educated people? If someone is illiterate, personally I respect him. But people's representatives cannot be illiterate. This is the era of science and technology. Illiterate public representatives can never build the modern India of 21st century," Kejriwal wrote on X. Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Prashant Kanojia remarked that a teacher was "punished for speaking the truth". "He said don't vote for the illiterate and the people of BJP have accepted that this is an attack on Modi means BJP people also believe that Modi is illiterate and do nothing except changing his name?" Kanojia wrote on X. एक शिक्षक को सच बोलने की सजा मिली। उन्होंने कहा अनपढ़ को वोट मत देना और भाजपा के लोगों ने माना कि ये मोदी पर हमला है यानी भाजपाई भी मानते हैं कि मोदी अनपढ़ हैं और सिर्फ़ नाम बदलने के अलावा कुछ नहीं करते? pic.twitter.com/ClbCQkCh8f — Prashant Kanojia (@KanojiaPJ) August 17, 2023 Coming down heavily on the Unacademy founders, Congress leader Supriya Shrinate wrote: "Sad to see such spineless and weak people run an education platform." Those who cower under pressure and get bullied can never help nurture citizens who stand up against all odds to take on this world. Sad to see such spineless and weak people run an education platform. Care to explain this though @RomanSaini @gauravmunjal pic.twitter.com/XFUdI5YJ8m — Supriya Shrinate (@SupriyaShrinate) August 17, 2023 "Those who cower under pressure and get bullied can never help nurture citizens who stand up against all odds to take on this world," she said.
