Candidates organize protest against KPSC for unjust examination
Candidates who wrote the public examination, conducted by Karnataka Public Service Commission (KPSC) reported several translation errors in the Kannada paper. Soon a re-examination was conducted, however, the translation errors still hadn’t been rectified. This lead to the candidates protesting in Freedom Park on February 18th demanding that the results be withheld due to the unfair nature of the examination.
Students of Tamil Nadu (TN) fight against TLP and NEP
In a letter written to the CM, the centre notified that it will not allocate funds to TN as it had not implemented the three-language policy (TLP) under the National Education Policy (NEP). The move has triggered protests by students across TN to resist against the imposition of hindi and infringement of the federal structure.
The fight against UGC guidelines continues across India
Student protests against the draft UGC guidelines continued into February. The proposed guidelines allows for non-academics to be appointed as vice-chairman (VC) and also takes away power from state governments to appoint VCs. Protesting students have highlighted that the rules diminish quality of higher education by, sidelining faculty, academic councils and eliminating participatory mechanisms.
Student suicide in KIIT sparks nation-wide protests
A 3rd year student from Nepal at Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology (KIIT), Bhubaneshwar, was found to have died by suicide due to harassment by her boyfriend. After backlash over safety concerns, the admin went on to expel over 500 Nepali students. The incident has sparked wide-spread protests from students and youth across India and abroad echoing the need for improved safety and non-authoritarian administration in universities.
