Edtech

Unacademy Dismisses Teacher Advocating Vote for Educated Candidates

• ByStartupStory     |    August 19, 2023

Edtech platform Unacademy has terminated the employment of a teacher who sparked controversy by encouraging students to vote for educated candidates.

Karan Sangwan, a legal faculty member at Unacademy, faced repercussions after raising questions about bills related to IPC and CrPC presented in Parliament. In a video, Sangwan urged his students to support educated candidates in future elections. Following this appeal, Unacademy dismissed him, stating that classrooms are not appropriate spaces for sharing personal opinions and perspectives.

Roman Saini, Co-founder of Unacademy Group, said, “Our learners are at the center of everything we do. The classroom is not a place to share personal opinions and views, as they can wrongly influence others. In the current situation, we were forced to part ways with Karan Sangwan as he was in breach of the Code of Conduct.”

He also said, “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.”

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal criticized the dismissal, questioning whether advocating for educated candidates is a punishable offense.

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

Saini said that there is a strict Code of Conduct for all educators, with the aim of providing unbiased knowledge to the learners. “The classroom is not a place to wrongly influence them”.

In his video, Sangwan can be heard asking the students to elect educated politicians. He was discussing the recent bills tabled in the Lok Sabha by the union government to replace the British-era IPC, CrPC, and Indian Evidence Act.

Sangwan added that even he doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry because he also has a lot of bare acts, caseloads, and notes that he has prepared.

“Keep in mind one thing. Next time, vote for someone who is well-educated so you don’t have to go through this again. Elect someone who is educated, who understands things. Don’t elect someone who only knows things and changes names. Take a decision judiciously,” he says.

Sangwan announced that he would further elaborate on the controversy in a YouTube video on August 19.

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