 "Who is Karan Sangwan, the educator fired by Unacademy over viral video?")
Edtech platform Unacademy has sacked an educator, Karan Sangwan, who, during a lecture, appealed to students to vote for educated candidates, with the company stating that the classroom is not a place to share personal views. Here are the details of the controversy:
Who is Karan Sangwan?
Karan Sangwan has been an educator at Unacademy since February 2020, with over 14,000 followers on the edtech platform. Sangwan studied at National Law University, Shimla and worked at CR Law College, Hisar, for about a year. He also runs a YouTube channel called Legal Pathshala with over 45,000 subscribers. He has earned an LL.M. in criminal law and has taught several courses related to judiciary entrance exams.
Why is Karan Sangwan in the news?
In a video that has gone viral, during a lecture, Sangwan was seen appealing to students to vote for educated candidates in elections. Without taking any names, he appealed to students not to elect uneducated people in powerful positions and vote for a literate person in the upcoming elections.
Upset over the Centre's move to replace colonial-era Indian Penal Code , Criminal Procedure Code and Indian Evidence Act, Sangwan bemoaned that the notes he had prepared on criminal laws had become worthless. In the video, Sangwan can be heard saying, "Even I don't know whether to laugh or cry because I also have a lot of bare acts, caseloads, and notes that I had prepared. It is hard work for everyone."
"But keep in mind that the next time you vote, elect someone who is well-educated so you don't have to go through this (ordeal) again. Ok?" he stated. "Elect someone who is educated, who comprehends things. Don't elect someone who only knows changing names. Make your decision properly."
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Why did Unacademy fire him?
Unacademy co-founder Roman Saini said that the company had to part ways with Sangawan as he was in breach of contract. Saini said in a tweet that Unacademy is an education platform that is committed to imparting quality education, and to implement this, the company has in place a code of conduct for its educators to ensure that the learners have access to unbiased knowledge. "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.
What is Unacademy?
Founded in 2015 by Gaurav Munjal, Unacademy is an online education platform based in India. It provides coaching to students for various competitive examinations (such as JEE, NEET, UPSC, chartered Accountancy, GATE, and UPSC) through video lessons and live classes. It started as a YouTube channel and, in 2019, began its subscription-based model, Unacademy Plus.
Karan Sangwan' response
Meanwhile, Sangwan said that he would share the details about the controversy on his YouTube channel on August 19. "For the past few days, a video has been going viral due to which I am in controversy and because of that controversy, 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.
What did Arvind Kejriwal say on the issue?
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday questioned the ed-tech platform's decision to terminate Sangwan's employment and wondered whether asking people to vote for an educated person is a crime.
"Is it a crime to appeal to educated people to vote? 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 the 21st century," Kejriwal wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.