Kolkata’s Bethune College introduces ‘Humanity’ as religion in admission form

Kolkata: Bethune College in Kolkata has included ‘Humanity’ as an option in the ‘Religion’ section of the college admission forms, an official said.

It is the first women’s college in Asia which has taken a noticeable step by keeping ‘Humanity’ as the first option in the ‘Religion’ tab for the admission process that began on May 27.

“We have noticed that some youngsters don’t want to disclose their religion. There were options like ‘non-believer’ but we thought that humanity is something that all the religions talk about. Humanity is above every religion,” Mamata Ray Chaudhuri, Principal of the college which functions under Calcutta University, told IANS.

She said it is better to have faith in humanity rather than becoming a non-believer at a young age.

The education fraternity has highly appreciated the steps taken by one of the oldest institution.

The Bethune College was established in 1849 as a girls’ school by John Elliot Drinkwater Bethune. The institution was turned to college in 1879.