In what is being considered as a progressive change, the vice-chancellor of Bangalore University (BU) on Thursday approved all-girls Mount Carmel College's proposal to admit boys for postgraduate courses.
The admission to PG courses is likely to begin from the next academic year as the university has forwarded the proposal to the Karnataka government.
"Once the government gives permission, they can start offering PG courses for boys too," The Times of India quoted BU Vice-Chancellor B Thimme Gowda as saying.
The college authorities had sent the proposal in March this year based on the demands for PG courses in electronics and nano-technology from boys.
"There was a demand for PG courses in electronics and nanotechnology from boys. And since MCC has all the necessary facilities for this, we thought, why not? But only a certain percentage of seats will be allotted for boys as our new campus is not yet ready and classes will continue in the Vasanthnagar campus," college principal Sr Arpana told TOI.
She said that the college authorities took the decision to develop competitive and social skills among the students.
While some students and alumnae have welcomed the idea, others feel that admitting boys in an all-girl's institution will bother a few parents who are still not comfortable with co-education.
"It will be embarrassing for boys to enter a girls' college. They will be few in number compared to the crowd of girls. It will certainly not go down well with some parents; but for us, it doesn't really matter," second-year tourism student Geetanjali Iyer said.
"There are many parents even today who are strict about sending their daughters to only-girls institutions. They might not welcome this idea at all," alumna Sheetal K told TOI.
