Mount Carmel College (MCC), one of the oldest colleges in Bengaluru, has thrown open all its courses to boys. Earlier in 2016, the college had allowed male students to apply for only Postgraduate courses.
The decision for the academic year 2024-2025 was made at the BU Academic Council. Speaking to TNIE, Dr George Lekha, Principal, MCC, said:
“This decision has been taken by the management as next year we want to attain the university status. The council was of the opinion that we have to move past being a women’s college. I believe the move is progressive and since we have completed 75 years of our establishment, this is the appropriate next move forward.”
The Principal added that the college has also made several changes in its academic programmes and shifted its focus towards becoming a university. “We don’t want to be an all-women’s university. So it seemed viable that we start enrolling boys in all courses,” she explained.
Dr Lekha also emphasised that there would not be drastic changes for the college as they have not decided on increasing the intake of students. She said there would be gradual changes and the administration would have to wait and see how many applications come in for the upcoming academic year.
Speaking about shared campus for Pre University (PU) College, Dr Lekha said, “I don’t think that should be a problem as the intake of students for UG or PG courses is not increasing. In future, we might reserve a small percentage of seats for the male students but as of now that category hasn’t been discussed.”
Currently, in MCC 13 boys are enrolled in several PG courses.