A professor at York University in Ontario, Canada, has been removed from the course he was teaching after screenshots showing him reproving and threatening to fail that a student went viral earlier this week. It is seen that the teacher tells the student, who said that they could not take the intermediate exam due to the internet shutdown imposed by the army in Myanmar, that “the next time you find something missing , is over”.
Screenshots of the email exchange show the student asking math and statistics teacher Emanoil Theodorescu for a postponement of the midterm exam, saying they recently learned that the military would impose another internet shutdown.
“I just learned that from tomorrow all mobile data, wifi and internet services will be cut off indefinitely,” the student wrote. “Therefore, there will be a total shutdown of communications.”
“There is no postponement. It is transferred to the final exam. Last chance, bad signal,” Theodorescu replied, according to screenshots. “Even the Internet fell with Covid19?”
The student responded by trying to explain the situation in Myanmar, which has been shaken by protest and civil unrest since the military staged a coup in February.
“Nearly 200 protesters have been shot [until] now. The regime has decided to close all communications before tomorrow, “the student said.
When the student asked if his final exam would now be 60% of the grade, Theodorescu replied, “something like that.”
“Okay teacher. Thank you,” the student said. “So shouldn’t I worry if I lose the test tomorrow?
“Of course you should,” Theodorescu replied. “The next time you miss something, it’s over.”
“By the way, your observations (both related to this course and to your home country) made me wonder how you understand reality,” he added. “People are not shot just for protesting, but for much deeper reasons. And with the burden of everything on the final exam (it will be difficult to pass the course) for lack of practice, if nothing else.”
The screenshots of the exchange posted on Twitter on Thursday sparked rapid outrage. In a statement Friday, York University said it was committed to ensuring “respect, equity, diversity and inclusion,” adding: “There has been recent communication between an instructor from the Department of Mathematics. and Statistics and a student who does not reflect these values. ”
“We would like to assure all interested parties that senior faculty staff were able to contact the student directly on the night of the exchange with the instructor and clearly expressed their support for their difficult circumstance and well-being, and to moreover, he assured them that the necessary accommodations would be granted, ”the university said.
“Alternative arrangements have been made for the teaching of the course,” the university added.
Theodorescu’s contact information has been removed from the department’s faculty and instructors page. CBS News has not returned a comment request.
Civil unrest has engulfed Myanmar after the February 1 coup, which prompted the military junta to take control of the country. Military officials said they took control because he was a leader Aung San Suu Kyi he was elected because of electoral fraud, a claim that has been widely dispelled. Suu Kyi and hundreds of other politicians and allies have been in prison ever since.
The military has it reduce Internet services and blocked international communications as protests have been stifled. More than 100 people, including many young adults, students, educators and health workers, have been killed by the military to protest the coup.
On Friday, the United Nations accused the board of using force to take over 60 schools, and even assaulting teachers, according to The Associated Press.