Several teachers in the English department of Kolkata’s Jadavpur University have refused to participate in the undergraduate admission process this year, The Telegraph reported on Friday. They made the decision in protest against the scrapping of entrance tests for some undergraduate courses.

The Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association did not work on Friday and staged a sit-in outside the administrative office, a spokesperson for the teachers’ body said. Scrapping entrance tests may “lower the academic standard of the JU arts faculty”, the spokesperson told PTI.

On Thursday, a group of protesting students had confined members of the executive council, including the vice chancellor, on the campus until close to midnight.

Protests broke out on the campus after the administration on Wednesday decided to scrap entrance tests for comparative literature, history, political science, philosophy, English and Bengali for this academic year. It said students will instead be enrolled based solely only on their Class 12 board exam marks.

Speaking to the media while still confined to his office on Thursday, Vice Chancellor Suranjan Das said the change was “only for this year”, according to The Telegraph. He also said the decision was taken by a majority of the executive council’s members, so he had to abide by it. He failed to understand the reason behind the protest, Das said, and accused the students of keeping the officials under wrongful confinement.

The Arts Faculty Students’ Union said they will continue their sit-in outside the main administrative building until the decision is revoked, PTI reported, quoting the union’s chairperson Somashree Choudhury. The union, as well as other student bodies in the university, called for a boycott of classes on Friday.

The Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association and the non-teaching staff are supporting the students’ union, Choudhury said. Sixteen of the 18 teachers in the English department said they will not take part in the admission process.

A statement signed by 226 alumni of the university has also condemned the decision. Having entrance examinations will ensure the Faculty of Arts “continues its legacy of academic excellence”, they said. Scrapping the exams, on the other hand, will undermine the dreams of students who have applied to study at the university, as “there must be brilliant young minds that couldn’t obtain 90% or more in the board examinations”.