Students of Ambedkar University Delhi (AUD) held a protest against the new attendance policy introduced by the university’s administration today, December 14. 

In a press release, the All India Students’ Association (AISA) calls this policy “the latest in a long chain of exclusionary policies instituted by the university”. 

The administration of AUD revised the attendance policy on August 9, 2023, and introduced a mandatory 75 per cent attendance for all students, not meeting which has resulted in “many students being disbarred from exams”, and the “degrees of many being affected”. 

Criticising this policy, AISA claims that due to the attendance policy, students now need to repeat semesters despite submitting medical certificates for illnesses and other such unavoidable reasons for not being able to attend the university for long periods.

Further, AISA states that this policy restricts the students to the classroom, and prevents them from engaging in co-curricular activities, thus undoing the purpose of a university as “a space of intellectual and creative stimulation”, nurtured by dialogue and discussion. 

In addition, many students, who rely on freelance and part-time work to sustain themselves financially, end up being alienated from education. The fact that AUD does not provide hostel facilities to its students makes things worse, says AISA. 

“This policy has been undertaken completely ignoring the reality of many students having to live far from campus, of students who have to work part-time to sustain themselves in such a university with such high fees in a highly expensive city, it excludes students with various disabilities and health problems and even kills the independent initiative of students,” the press release reads.

“The students gathered demanded that the AUD administration immediately revoke this policy and instead work on addressing the issues that have been plaguing this university for many years now,” AISA further says.