Law students ask for maternity leave

KOCHI: Girl students of Government Law College, Ernakulam have urged the Mahatma Gandhi University to sanction maternity leave for LLB students in college who are married while pursuing the course.

According to the MG University guidelines, 75 per cent attendance is mandatory for appearing in the examination, but, students who get married and pregnant during the course find it difficult to meet the criteria as they require at least two months to recuperate from childbirth.

The students have mailed 200 post-cards to the MG University vice chancellor Babu Sebastian requesting maternity leave for pregnant girl students. The mails are sent as part of the Mathrukam, a project by on an average at least five students from each batch face this problem.

Since, they are unable to meet the attendance criteria, all of them lose a year as they are not promoted,” said Hasna Shahitha.

Most female students, belonging to the five-year course, get married while pursuing the course. There should be some mechanism for getting leave so that they don’t lose an academic year, she said.

“There are provisions for such leave in many universities,” she added. Some  colleges in Kerala even have provisions for crèches to take care of the babies of  students,” she added.

Habnam, a third semester student, who was advised a three-month bed-rest during her pregnancy, said that University officials refused to show any sympathy on  grounds that it may set a precedent.

“The college authorities said that although mine was a genuine case they are in no position to take a decision as other students were also likely to approach them with similar demands,” she added.