Less than a month after students protested and toppled the government in Bangladesh, some students launched a protest in Canada. However, the reason of the protests by the Indian origin students in Canada is completely different, they are protesting because they failed in the exam.
On 28 August, over 200 Indian students studying at St Clair College in Brampton came out to protest after they failed the exams. A group of post-secondary students demonstrated at Garden Square, Brampton, demanding grace marks to pass the exams. The students claimed that the college failed them for no reason.
The students said, “We will not tolerate this and are starting our protest.” They also sought support of the local Indian community, mostly Sikhs from Punjab. They declared that they can’t appear for the exam again as they don’t have time, and demanded that the college declared them pass by adding grace marks.
“We cannot do the subject again as we do not have time. We request you to stand by us! If you stand by us today, we will stand by you tomorrow. So please reach to St Clair College to support our protest,” one of the students can be heard saying in a video shared by a Canadian X user.
The college administration asked the students to use the grade appeal procedure, but the students reportedly insisted that they must be given 100% certainty of pass on their first appeal. They didn’t request for a review of their papers and grades, and insisted that their grades should be increased to at least pass.
Some students who joined the protests failed in multiple subjects, raising questioned on their demands to increase their grades.
The protests also made comments against a journalist who was present at the spot to cover the protest. Harrison Faulkner from True North posted videos showing a protester asking other students to ignore him, saying that he is a YouTuber and not a real journalist. The students also chanted ‘go back’ slogans against the journalist, calling him and the media house racist.
They yelled “True North Shame Shame” and “Go back, racist!” Harrison wanted to give the students a chance to speak on media, but the students chanted ‘go back’ instead.
Notably, the protests at St Clair College took place months after similar protests at Algoma University in January 2024 when over 100 students protested against the same college for failing them. The protests continued for days and in the end university changed the grading system allowing them to pass. Notably, at that time, the University offered them several options but the students did not accept claiming it would show as if the students were unable to pass the exams. The university did not provide any explanation of how grades from failed were changed to pass at that time.
At that time, some of the students claimed that their scores decreased after the final exam which, according to them was not possible. For example, according to Humber news, one student named Simarjit Singh said he earlier had 45% marks but they dropped to 44% after the final exam alleging that the university’s grading practices were arbitrary and lacked transparency. They held placards that read “Justice For Students” and “Stop Exploiting Us”.
Responding to the allegations, Algoma University conducted a reassessment of the grades and offered some students a chance to pass through a “bell-curve-up” grading system. 61 students out of 230 who initially failed were later allowed to pass.
Notably, Publica reported that some of the students faced expulsion as they were allegedly involved in academic integrity violations with accusations ranging from cheating to submitting plagiarised content.
At a time when St Clair College students were protesting against failing exams, Indian students across Canada have been protesting against the changes in immigration policies that will impact their pathway to permanent residency in the country. These protests are happening in cities like Ontario, Charlottetown and Winnipeg. The students have argued that the recent changes in the policy have made it difficult for them to obtain permanent residency even though they fulfil the previous requirements and invested a significant amount of money and time in getting an education and working in Canada.
The international students, mostly Indian students, have claimed that they are being unfairly targeted by limiting their post-study work options and tightening the eligibility criteria for permanent residency. Several groups of students have launched protests outside government offices, universities and public spaces. Reportedly, international students are becoming more anxious as time passes and they fear the chances of deportation shortly.
Reportedly, many Indian students claim that they feel betrayed by the Canadian government which they believed once was student-friendly. Several protesters pointed out that when they came to Canada, they were promised an easier route to permanent residency. It was their main motive for choosing to study in Canada that after completing their education, they would get permanent residency which would clear the path to citizenship.
Not to forget, amidst political turmoil between India and Canada, the number of Indian students opting for Canada as destination for education has already dropped.
