St. Stephen's College suspends 100 students for skipping morning assembly
St Stephen's College in Delhi has allegedly suspended around 100 first-year students for not attending the morning assembly. The college authorities have said the students would be debarred from Semester-II examinations as a punishment. According to reports, both students and teachers have written a letter to Principal John Varghese, requesting him to revoke the suspension order and withdraw the debarment threat. The college administration is yet to respond.
Why does this story matter?
The morning assembly is a tradition unique to St. Stephen's College and not officially recognized by the university. Notably, the college is affiliated with Delhi University. Associate Professor Sanjeev Grewal, in his letter to the principal, has said that the lack of attendance at the morning college assembly should not be a reason for preventing students from taking examinations.
Students suspended for failing to arrange parent-principal meeting
The college authorities, reports said, sent an email to all the concerned students on February 4 asking them to set up appointments with the college principal. The mail also requested that their parents be present at the meeting. Following this, the college sent a follow-up email to the students on Sunday informing them of the suspension and debarment from the Semester-II examinations. Failure to set up a parent-principal appointment was cited as the reason for this penalty.
Students send collective reply to principal's email
The decision has left several teachers worried. They have expressed concern over students missing their classes and exams because of the suspension. In a collective reply, the students said that since most of their parents live outside Delhi, setting up an appointment at short notice was not feasible. "Nonetheless, some students attempted to fix an appointment without a guardian but were rejected, and others did not receive any response to their emails," the students wrote.
Assembly attendance violates constitutional rights, students say
In their email, the students said that making attendance at the morning assembly compulsory may be violative of their constitutional rights. "Making assembly attendance compulsory may...be violative of the fundamental rights of students under Articles 25 and 28(3) of the Constitution," the email stated. Students argued that the college assembly traditionally includes religious prayers and readings from scriptures. The letter to the principal urged the administration to make attendance at morning assemblies and religious instruction voluntary.