New rules to keep boys and girls apart

BENGALURU: Tuesday night's shooting of a II PU student in a college hostel appears to be prompting college managements to impose new rules to segregate boys and girls in educational institutions. Starting with keeping a "strict watch" on students' attendance, imposing dress codes and banning the use of mobile phones on the one hand, educational institutions are also contemplating measures such as introducing professional counselling for their students.

Vijaya PU College in Jayanagar wants to develop a system through which a student who is absent for an hour will come under scrutiny. Their parents will receive a message informing them of their wards' absence."Restrictions are a way to ensure such t situations don't occur," principal Kt Seshamurthy said.

The Stracey Memorial Composite PU College, St Mark's Road, maintained that the college's main aim was to "take maximum care of our students." The college has installed surveillance cameras in all classrooms. "We ensure our classrooms are empty by the end of the day and do not allow students to stay back," said principal S A Kribanandan.

Colleges have been making efforts to ensure that there is a distance be tween boys and girls. Some of them have separate lifts, stairways and seating arrangements inside classrooms.They ensure they do not mingle on the campus. Colleges have also banned the use of mobile phones. RV College of Engineering on Mysuru Road bans the use of mobiles on campus but allows students to deposit them and permit their use in an emergency.

BR Chandrashekharappa, principal of Surana College on South End Road, said: "Students are supposed to follow the dress code from Monday to Thursday and are allowed to wear jeans with t-shirts on Friday and Saturday ," he said.