‘We will not stand any caste, class, gender, race bias in classrooms’

The M.A. English Department students of Delhi University have claimed that their petition to the President complaning about the "deplorable"teaching standards.

Around 200 students from the M.A. English Department of Delhi University have claimed that their petition to the President complaining about the “deplorable” teaching standards, which was made public a few days ago, has resulted in a backlash from a section of the teaching community. But, again, there has been no reaction from the English Department.

“The complaint has not been made under any pressure or political motivation from our department teachers.The 200 signatures are a result of a unanimous decision taken among the students and was only based on their lack of dedication and commitment to academics,” said the statement.

While most teachers have refused to comment on the issue altogether since it involved the recent appointment of permanent teachers and saying anything could be seen as being motivated politically, there were some who did not approve of what the students were doing and were vocal about it in the social media.

Accusations that the students may have been under pressure from teachers who were of a certain political ideology have been doing the rounds, after which the students reacted.

“The teaching community is requested to note that we are postgraduate English students. We have our critical abilities to understand the discourse going around. We are adults and we have every right to complain against the shoddy teaching in the department for which we are paying,” said the statement signed by the class.

“The students will not stand any caste, class, gender, race discrimination in the classroom space. We could tolerate bad teaching, but we shall not allow our fellow classmate to be harassed in class because of his/her caste or religion by a teacher,” ended the statement.