Girls still get priority at MCC, says college after co-ed announcement

The 75-year-old institution in Vasanth Nagar is one of the city’s iconic all-girls colleges.

Although Mount Carmel College (MCC) has stated that it will continue to prioritise women’s education, students and parents remain unhappy with the institution’s decision to go co-ed.

Over the last few days, lecturers at the institute have had to attend to the queries of distressed parents. “Some of our students come from orthodox and conservative families. We’ve been assuring them that the college will still be safe for girls and we will continue to prioritise our girl students — 75% of the seats will be reserved for girls,” a humanities professor tells Metrolife.

The move towards co-education will help boost admissions in postgraduate courses and provide holistic education, believes Alice Mathew, head of department, political science.

“This transition is a positive step towards greater inclusivity and diversity, offering more opportunities for interaction and learning. Many of our students go to Christ or St Joseph’s after graduation because they are co-ed institutions. Hence, this will help retain some students,” she says.

‘Impact on freedom’

Safety issues and stricter rules are some of the concerns of the students Metrolife spoke to.

“MCC is one of the few colleges in the city where there is a relaxed dress code. I hope these small freedoms are not taken away,” says Jasneet Kaur, a BBA student.

Since the news broke, the Internet has been abuzz with crude content. A reel stating “The course boys will choose in Mount Carmel is intercourse”, has gone viral and garnered over 1.6 lakh likes. 

“People are even making rape jokes. If this is the case when boys haven’t even entered the campus, what will it be like when they’re amongst us?” asks a concerned BA student.

A postgraduate student from the science department is concerned for the LGBTQ+ community. “In MCC, you don’t get judged for your sexuality, the way you dress or anything else. The college has been a safe space for the queer community. Many from the community are worried about getting bullied or ragged if boys are on campus,” she says.

The students hope the college will take appropriate measures to ensure the core values of the institute remain intact. “Mount Carmel is about sisterhood and women empowerment. I hope the new era the college is heading into embraces this instead of squashing it. Both the college and the new students should ensure the long-held values of the college remain intact,” says Soubiya M, a BBA student.

Parents’ POV

A parent from Doddaballapura, whose daughter stays in the hostel on campus, visited the college on Monday
to talk to the management about the announcement. “We chose this college as it is a girls-only institute and is said to be safe. We won’t be comfortable with her staying here if it becomes a co-ed college,” he tells Metrolife.

But some are happy with the change. “Once my daughter is out of college, she’ll have to interact with men on a daily basis. Be it at work or elsewhere. So, I don’t see it as a concern. In fact, I think this is a good decision,” says Priya, mother of a Bcom student.

What happened

Last week, MCC announced its decision to open its doors to boys. From the forthcoming academic year, 2024-25, boys can apply to all the undergraduate and postgraduate courses at the 75-year-old all-girls college. The move is in line with the institute’s aspirations to gain the ‘deemed to be university’ status. Technically, the college has already been accepting male students in postgraduate courses since 2016, but the admission rate of male students has been low.