New Delhi: The Association of Indian Universities (AIU) has urged vice chancellors and directors of higher education institutions across the country urging them to tell students not to get distracted by calls for protest and remain focussed on their education, as the movement demanding educational reforms gains nationwide momentum.“Students deserve guidance, not uncertainty. I urge all member universities to support them with empathy and keep them focused on their academic journey,” AIU President Professor Vinay Kumar Pathak wrote in the advisory, titled ‘Appeal to encourage students to remain focused on their studies and to repose faith in the ongoing strengthening of the examination system’.The advisory was issued on July 21, a day after the Union home ministry-run Delhi police brutally suppressed a protest march planned from Jantar Mantar to the parliament on the first day of the monsoon session. The protesters are demanding Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation among other reforms in the education system.‘Students’ concern foremost priority’“The concerns of our students are our foremost priority, and they deserve to be heard with empathy and respect. At the same time, prolonged agitation exacts its heaviest price from the students themselves – in lost academic time, disrupted preparation and avoidable stress,” Pathak wrote, even as the Narendra Modi government has evaded mention of the nearly-month long protest at Jantar Mantar.Pathak also stressed that the government was committed to resolving the issue and had recently conducted the NEET exam in an “error-free and transparent” manner.“This price is all the more unnecessary when the Government stands committed to resolving the issue and has already conducted the recent NEET examination in a transparent and error-free manner,” he said.In May this year, the national-level medical entrance test, NEET, was cancelled less than 10 days after being conducted due to an alleged paper leak. Over 20 students have reportedly died by suicide since then, sparking widespread condemnation over the government’s inaction in the matter.