India
The Minister recently stated that boys and girls shouldn't sit together in class on campus.
Updated : Nov 19, 2015, 02:58 PM IST
On November 17, Kerala Education Minister PK Abdu Rabb stated, “As education minister I don't agree to the practice of boys and girls sitting next to each other in the classroom.” He further added that they could next to each other on chairs, but not together on benches.
Predictably, his comments have not gone down well with many people in Kerala and on social media.
#totally against the Kerala minister Abdu Rabb's irresponsible statement saying boys and girls can't sit together!
— shama mohamed (@shama_pelle) November 17, 2015
Girls and boys can't share a bench: Kerala Education Minister Abdu Rabb Why from now they'll start breeding right away when come in contact?
— Pandemonium (@JyotsnaPandey29) November 17, 2015
Kerala Education Minister Abdu Rabb says girls & boys should not sit together in college. Can they breathe in the same air, sir?
— BhayankarPseudoSecu (@Andec_Tanker) November 17, 2015
Sick to see such narrow minded comments from an edu minister https://t.co/W7Gwu2llAJ
— Waazim (@waa_zim) November 17, 2015
Kerala's Education Minister has a very important message about education. (i.e. It has been of no use to him.) pic.twitter.com/YuSvn00FKy
— José Covaco (@HoeZaay) November 17, 2015
We can never pursue development if we have people like Kerala's Education Minister having so patriarchal thinking about co-ed schooling
— Sushant (@sushant1307) November 17, 2015
Meanwhile, there have also been protests in Kerala on the statement. On Wednesday, students from the Ernakulam Law College formed a human chain in protest against the Rabb's comments.
The New Indian Express has quoted Tito Antony, KSU Ernakulam district committee president, as saying, "These are times in which men and women scale new heights irrespective of their gender. The minister’s comment is ridiculous. I think he doesn’t know which time he is living in. We will come out strongly against such institutions which campaign to bar boys and girls from behaving normally."