Sunday was not a typical “Fun”day in Brampton, Canada as the indefinite sit-in by international students entered the day 4.
The sit-in, carried out mostly by students of Punjabi origin, is being done outside the Algoma University in Brampton.
Allegations on IT Professor for Intentionally Failing Students
As per allegations from students, an IT professor has intentionally failed over 130 international students in order to mint money in re-examination fees.
These students, who are protesting in the bone-chilling cold weather, are getting support from Montreal Youth Students Organisation (MYSO) as well as many social activists.
Mandeep, convener of MYSO said that “On Saturday and Sunday, students along with MYSO members took out protest marches in the downtown of Brampton to gain public support. Students have also sent emails to the education department of Canada in this connection. On Monday, a day-long protest march will be taken out in Brampton and we appeal to like-minded groups to join the struggle of students.”
“The annual grading system needs changes and the university needs to consider our demand. We want a transparent system of paper-checking and students shouldn’t be burdened with the extra fee for appearing for an exam yet again” said Balli Singh, who is a member of student committee.
As per other member, there must be strict action taken against the professor who has made the ploy.
What Students Say About the Incident
A MYSO volunteer, namely, Manpreet Kaur Longowal said that “There are 10 subjects in the IT graduation course. It is surprising that the students have passed all the nine subjects with good marks. They have even cleared the practical of the Techniques of a System Analyst paper but failed in its theory exam, which is very surprising. A thorough inquiry needs to be done in this case.”
The waves of this furore has reached university and as a part of action, they are carrying out their investigation.
In a statement, university said that “We’ve contacted every student protesting grades from one specific instructor. Taking their concerns seriously, the Dean of Science is leading an urgent investigation. We acknowledge the stress these students face. We value academic integrity and the faculty of science is intervening to ensure fair assessments for each student”.
As per one of the MYSO volunteer Khushpal Grewal, citing another colleges of Ontario as an example of this being a pattern of minting money, there are students in colleges of Ontario, who have been failed in a subject and as a result of which they cannot get admitted to the next semester and they shall have to pay 3,000 dollars or even more than that. This particularly does not gel well with the international students, provided they already pay 4 times what the Canadian students pay.
The letters have been sent to the members of the Canadian parliament seeking justice for students and a thorough investigation.
Speaking in the favour of protecting the international students from such ploy, another volunteer of MYSO, Harinder Mehrok emphasized on the fact that international students already contribute to 30 billion dollars to Canada’s GDP yearly, and there are some universities which are surviving on international students only, hence it becomes utmost important that the interests of these students are protected.
