The Jawaharlal Nehru Students’ Union (JNUSU) has decided to boycott the ‘compulsory attendance’ decision of the varsity administration. JNUSU has urged the students not to sign the attendance register when the classes resume on Monday — the first day of the winter semester.
“Each of us must ensure ‘total boycott’. Following the signature campaign initiated by the JNUSU, following which more than 2,500 signatures have been collected, we must ensure a total boycott of this arbitrary ‘farman’ (decree),” the students’ union said in a statement. “Attendance was never mandatory in JNU because academics here means engaging, critiquing and thinking; not mere obedience,” it added.
The measure is scheduled to come into effect from the winter semester.
The university administration had informed the students of the measure for ‘mandatory attendance’ last month, saying that the decision was made in the Academic Council (AC) meeting held on December 1.
The student representatives are scheduled to meet the Vice-Chancellor (VC) of JNU, M. Jagadesh Kumar on Monday and will hand over to him a formal denunciation of the attendance order bearing signatures of 2,500 students.