Bihar nursing college bars female students from marriage during academic session, order withdrawn after backlash

Gopalganj: A notice issued by the General Nursing and Midwifery (GNM) School, Hathua, in Bihar's Gopalganj district has sparked controversy after it barred female students from getting married during the academic session.

According to the notice dated April 16, 2026, the institution informed students that marriage during the academic session is "prohibited." It further stated that if any student gets married during this period, the matter would be reported to the department and her enrolment would be cancelled with immediate effect.

"All female students are hereby informed that marriage during the academic session is prohibited. If any student gets married during this period, the information will be reported to the department, and her enrollment will be cancelled with immediate effect. The responsibility for this will lie with the student herself," mentioned the notice.

The directive, signed by the Principal of GNM School, SDH Hathua, has drawn criticism and objections from students and guardians. However, the order has now been withdrawn following the backlash and intervention from the district administration.

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Speaking to The Indian Express, Principal Singh said "The notice had been misinterpreted and stemmed from persistent attendance issues especially after some students married during the course. We did not intend to stop students from marrying, nor was there any intention to hurt anyone. Our protocol requires 100% clinical attendance and 85% theory attendance, which often is not fulfilled."

Singh said "The situation worsens when, after marriage, guardians seek exceptions despite poor attendance. There is significant pressure from guardians to allow students to sit for exams despite not meeting attendance requirements. Such requests cannot be accommodated under existing rules. We issued the letter to caution students so that they take attendance seriously. Marriage often leads to interruptions in both academic and clinical training. there is no formal rule prohibiting marriage during training."

Along with this, civil surgeon Dr Birendra Prasad also cancelled the order who stated that a student’s right to education cannot be restricted on the basis of her marital status.

Reacting to the controversy, he told TOI, "There is no such provision in any regulations of the health department or the Nursing Council. The order was cancelled and the inquiry report was forwarded to the department for further action against the principal. A two-member committee, comprising deputy medical superintendent Ramesh Kumar and MOIC (Hathua) Avinash, went to the GNM school to verify the order and submitted their report. I forwarded the report to the director-in-chief (family welfare, child health and nursing, disease control, public health and paramedical) Dr Rekha Jha on Monday. They will take further action."

Following this Dr Prasad issued a show cause notice to the nursing college principal and sought clarification about the notice she issued, reports ETV Bharat.

Dr Prasad said, "We want to know her intention behind issuing it. We will initiate departmental proceedings if her reply is not satisfactory, In the meantime, we have cancelled the letter and the notice issued by the principal. Since we sent the show cause notice to her yesterday (Friday night), we will wait till Monday for her reply."

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