Over 100 St Stephen's College Students 'Barred' From Exams For Absence In Morning Assembly

The suspended students have also requested clarification regarding the grounds for their suspension.

The St Stephen's College head of economics said DU don't recognise the morning assembly. (Image: Official)

New Delhi: Over 100 first-year students at Delhi University's St. Stephen's College allegedly faced suspension for failing to attend the morning assembly, teachers and students claimed on Tuesday. In an email addressed to Principal John Varghese on Monday, the first-year students asserted that they were barred from the second-semester examination after purportedly not meeting the principal with their parents regarding their absence from the assembly. No immediate response was provided by Varghese, as reported by PTI.

"We are writing to you regarding the emails sent on February 17, 2024 (Saturday), to over 100 first-year students of St Stephen's College in which they were suspended and debarred from the semester 2 examinations," the students said in the email to Varghese.

"The reason cited was a failure to set up an appointment with the principal in response to the email sent on February 4, 2024 (Sunday), wherein these first-year students were asked to do the same due to low attendance in the morning assemblies in the month of January," they said.

In the email, students also expressed that arranging an appointment posed challenges for many, as their parents resided outside the Delhi-NCR region. Consequently, it was not feasible for them to travel to Delhi on short notice due to prior commitments, scheduling conflicts, and financial constraints.

The email notifying parents and guardians that their wards had been barred from the second semester examination was purportedly authored by the personal secretary to the principal.

"Regrettably, due to non-compliance with the request, I inform you that the students will not be allowed to sit for the upcoming examination as consequences of the suspension," according to the email sent to the students' parents and guardians.

According to the students, their efforts to schedule appointments without their guardians were also turned down.

A faculty member at the college criticized the alleged suspension for coercing participation in a religious activity and cited university rules and regulations. Additionally, the faculty member demanded disciplinary action against the individual responsible for sending the email.

Sanjeev Grewal, head of the college's economics department, said in an email dated February 20 (Tuesday) to Principal Varghese, "I am quite shocked to know that a large number of students have been suspended from college and it has been threatened that they will also be debarred from appearing in the examinations. In my opinion, students can be debarred from appearing in the examinations only on the grounds explicitly stated in the university rules and regulations. To the best of my knowledge, the shortage of attendance in the morning college assembly is not a ground for debarring students from appearing in the examinations."

"The morning assembly is a convention specific to St Stephen's College and is not recognised by the university. Nor does the failure to attend morning assembly, in my humble opinion, constitute a legitimate ground for suspension from the college," Grewal added.