Why hundreds of Indian students are protesting at a Canada university in freezing temperatures

Amid freezing temperatures in Canada, nearly 132 students, mostly of Indian origin, took to the streets when all of them failed in one subject of the IT graduation course at Algoma University. “Unfair enrolment and grading practices,” the students alleged. The students, who also drew support from three other classes, are now demanding an external investigation. Let’s take a closer look at the matter. The protest According to the Toronto Star, the protests started on 3 January when a group of primarily Indian and Pakistani students gather outside of Algoma’s satellite campus in Brampton, Ontario, after a professor failed nearly 132 students in the subject “Techniques of a System Analyst” without explanation. In the pictures circulating on social media, students can be seen carrying posters and placards with powerful messages such as “Students Justice Now,” “Stop Scamming Students,” and “Education is not for sale.” The university buildings located at the northeast corner of Main and Queen streets were circled by them in a parade.

Their combined voice echoed calls for Algoma University officials to be held accountable, and transparent, and to conduct a fair re-evaluation. “We are not doing this just to pass the exam. We are not liking it. We are not having fun outside in this weather,” one of the protesting students, Simran Kaur told the Canadian news portal The Star. She is enrolled in Algoma’s two-year postgraduate certificate programme in human resources and business management and has failed a management course. “We are not forcing this university to randomly pass us overnight. We just demand a transparent, a fair grading system,” she said.

"CAD 26,000 are not enough"

"Algoma is runing students' career".

Yeah, not surprised you fellas failed. pic.twitter.com/JKPgVlIF44

— Curious Insight (@CuriosInsight) January 13, 2024

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Not the first time Students at Algoma University have claimed that this is not the first time that Indian students have been given a failing grade in a particular course taught by a particular professor. “This is a money-making technique. They know that students will get scared and will have to reappear for that subject, which means they will have to pay an additional exam or semester fee. They are generating money by such petty tricks,” Mandeep, convenor of Montreal Youth Students Organisation (MYSO), told Indian Express. Algoma University’s response The university, however, has denied the claims by saying that only 32 out of 132 students had received a failing grade. In a written statement, Algoma University said, “In a class of 230 students, 32 have a failing grade. Those students have been offered an opportunity to write an aptitude competency exam at no cost to them, composed and graded by a different faculty member.” It added, “The University will also continue its review, which will include reviewing students’ previous tests and assignments. We will continue to communicate with the impacted students.”

After releasing the statement, protesting students claimed nearly 100 students were marked “pass” out of the blue. “As a public university, Algoma University deeply values academic integrity. While we provide all students a range of resources to support their success, it is up to them to do the work and pass their exam. Algoma University very much wants the small group of protesters – some of whom are Algoma University students and some of whom are not – to come inside where they are safe and warm. We can extend an invitation, not a promise of better grades,” The Star quoted a statement by the university. Notice of offence Even after the review, a few students who had passed were given “notices of offence” for supposedly breaking academic integrity rules. Students are concerned about these notices from Michael Twiss, the dean of science, as they could now be expelled for alleged infractions. The letter advised the students of their right to appeal to a committee, which will weigh the professor’s and the student’s evidence when determining if the student engaged in academic dishonesty and needs to be punished further. Additionally, it threatened to expel students for committing another academic integrity violation, according to Toronto Star.

One of the accused students, Lovepreet Singh, was surprised at the claim that he merely spent a minute on the exam and turned in the paperwork. The 24-year-old stated that, despite downloading the exam paper at 9:05 am and turning in his answers in PDF format at 11:54 am, he only had enough time to respond to six of the eight questions during the three-hour final on 7 December. Some students, such as Himanshu Nagi, have expressed a desire to repeat exams if necessary and have demanded to view their answer sheets to advocate for transparency.

Kanwar Sierah, an immigration consultant and former international student himself, pushed for an in-depth inquiry, asking the Ministry of Colleges and Universities and the Ontario Ombudsman to look into the concerns. “What this should bring is a detailed investigation into all the colleges and universities across Canada, and how many students they have failed in the last two years, from which courses and, more importantly, how many of them were domestic students versus how many of them were international students,” said Sierah, who spoke at the student rally reported by Toronto Star. An Algoma representative stated on Sunday that while the institution was unable to comment on a specific student’s violation of academic integrity, it remains committed to its earlier stance. She stated that all students are entitled to an appeals process for both grade appeals and notices of academic integrity violations. International students programme under scrutiny The protest has drawn attention to Canada’s international student programme and sparked questions about its effectiveness given the rise in enrolment of international students in recent years. The Justin Trudeau administration has come under fire for abandoning the Canadian economy in complete chaos. Immigration Minister Marc Miller stated that the system is “out of control” due to the large influx of foreign students in Ottawa during an interview with the Canadian news outlet CTV News. The minister remarked, “The volume is disconcerting. It’s really a system that has gotten out of control.” The federal government has come under heat for allegedly “welcoming” a rising number of immigrants into the nation, which has led to a serious housing crisis in the nation. Amid the chaos, Miller has announced that the country is considering a cap on the number of international students allowed to live in the country. The final intake numbers as well as the date of implementation have not been announced yet. With inputs from agencies