Unacademy sacks teacher who appealed to students to vote for educated candidates

Unacademy has sacked a teacher, Karan Sangwan, who had appealed to students to vote for educated candidates. The edtech firm has said that the classroom is not a place to share personal opinions and views.

Unacademy's co-founder Roman Saini said Sangwan was in breach of the company's code of conduct and therefore it had to part ways with him.

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

"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.

Sangwan has started his own YouTube channel and announced that he would 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, Sangwan had appealed to students to vote for educated candidates.

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

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."