Row brews over ‘gender mixing’ at medical college

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Health minister K K Shailaja has sought a report into the issue of certain faculty members of the Thiruvananthapuram medical college allegedly objecting to girl and boy students of the first year MBBS sitting together in class.
The minister’s direction came following student protests over the issue, in the medical college on Friday.
It is said that the students started sitting together after attending a seminar on gender sensitization.This irked some faculty members, most of them heads of department. With the students objecting to this, a general body of the parent teacher association was called to discuss the issue. The meeting saw some headed arguments in support and against the teachers’ stand. However, the PTA finally decided not to impose any restrictions on the students sitting together.
“The college has been functioning with a progressive outlook for the past 65 years. We don’t encourage such regressive thoughts on the campus. No ban has been imposed on the students sitting together. One or two faculty members might have expressed their opinion. It is learnt that they expressed their views after finding the students sitting cramped together on the benches,” said the college principal, Dr Thomas Mathew.
He said that he would look into the complaints raised by the students. The difficulties faced by the students will be overcome with the construction of the new lecture hall which is nearing completion, he added.