In a first, law student gets mother’s name added to degree certificate

A law student has succeeded in getting her mother’s name added to her provisional degree certificate after the private university, from which she graduated, originally provided her with a certificate that carried her father’s name alone.

The student, Samrita Shankar, who graduated with a BBA LLB (Hons.), originally received her provisional certificate on July 10 carrying her father’s name alone as is the common practice.

The certificate read, “This is to certify that Samrita Shankar, the ward of Shankar Narasimhan....”.

Shankar requested the examinations officer to include the names of both her parents, but she was informed that it would not be possible since the practice until then was to mention the father’s name alone. Shankar then wrote an email to the dean of the university the same day, highlighting the issue.

“When I first received my provisional degree, I noticed something odd in it; it included only my father’s name and not both my parents’ names. Considering that this was a special milestone in my academic life, I wanted to see both my parents’ names because they have been equal contributors in the successful completion of my law degree. Upon doing some research on this, I found out that this was a practice adopted by most universities in India. It is easy to look over such rules and practices as harmless, but they may actually have a huge impact on how gender equality is perceived in society. In the war against gender inequality, fighting the smaller battles is as important as fighting the bigger ones”, Shankar told HT.

The dean responded to Shankar’s email within half an hour, thanking Shankar for drawing the attention to the issue, and also said that he had already given instructions to university officials to make necessary changes and to issue her a revised certificate with Shankar’s mother’s name as well.

Shankar got her revised certificate within five days on July 15.

“I am extremely thankful to my university administration for immediately implementing these changes. I hope other universities also take note of this and bring about the necessary changes in all academic procedures”, Shankar said.

In her letter to the dean, Shankar also pointed to a directive issued by the University Grants Commission (UGC) in 1998 after taking note of the discriminatory nature of the practice of including the father’s name alone in the degree certificate of a student. The directive stated that all universities and affiliated colleges must clearly include the student’s name, the father’s name and the mother’s name in all academic testimonials.

The letter also said the archaic practice was a blow to efforts to achieve gender equality.

“In today’s world, mothers are equally working hard and contributing (financially and otherwise) towards their child’s development and education. Therefore, continuing with an anachronistic practice such as only including the father’s name in educational procedures and certificates is not only a step-back in achieving gender equality, but also disrespectful to single/unwed/divorced mothers and their children”, she wrote in her letter.

Shankar requested the University to change the practice and to give students the option to decide whether or not the degree certificate should bear the names of both parents.

“Yes, Samrita, you are absolutely right and we have already changed this practice. I have told the Controller’s officer to correct this grave error and ensure that we re-issue a revised provisional certificate immediately. Thank you for bringing this to our notice, a problem that we decided to address in the last few days”, the dean said in his response to Shankar.