A Comfortable and Equal Uniform for Kerala Degree Students

To the concerned authorities, colleges, and universities in Kerala,

We, the undersigned degree students and supporters, ask for a fair and practical change in the uniform rules followed by some colleges in Kerala. In many places, female students are required to wear an additional vest or coat with their regular uniform, while male students wear only a formal shirt and trousers.

Our request is simple: if a formal shirt and trousers are neat and professional for male students, they should be equally acceptable for female students too, without making them buy and wear an extra layer just because they are women. A uniform should bring equality, not create it for one group and deny it to another.

Kerala’s warm and humid climate makes an extra vest uncomfortable, especially during long college hours and while travelling to and from college. It also adds to the burden of care, since an extra garment is harder to wash and dry in Kerala’s rainy and humid weather.

There is also a financial burden. Female students who are told to wear a vest must spend more money to buy and maintain another uniform item, while male students do not face that same requirement. For many families, even one extra garment matters.

We are not asking colleges to remove uniforms or weaken discipline, modesty, or professionalism. We are asking for a uniform policy that is practical, affordable, and equal.

We therefore request that colleges and relevant authorities allow female degree students to wear the same formal shirt-and-trousers uniform without a mandatory vest or coat wherever such an extra garment is currently required.

A professional uniform does not need to be different for women to be proper. Equal rules should mean equal comfort, equal cost, and equal respect.