The Directorate of Technical Education has urged the government-aided engineering and polytechnic colleges to submit a report on ways to improve enrolment of girl students.
DoTE wants the proportion of male to female enrolment in engineering colleges to be 50:50, whereas it now stands at 67:33.
According to the State higher education department’s policy note in 2019-20, almost 35,855 girls and 73,077 boys enrolled in the engineering colleges. In contrast, of the total 80,320 students admitted to polytechnic courses, only 7,495 were girls.
Similarly, it proposes to increase the proportion in polytechnic colleges to 55:45, whereas the enrolment now stands at 90:10. The enrolment in polytechnic colleges has stagnated for the past five years.
According to the directorate, the principals of engineering and polytechnic colleges must submit a report on how they propose to increase the enrolment of girl students. The DoTE letter refers to the State Planning Commission’s direction for inclusive and equitable quality education. One of the Sustainable Development Goal’s aim is to ensure “inclusive, equitable and quality education for all, including technical and vocational training by providing lifelong learning opportunities, so as to achieve substantial adult literacy and numeracy”.
The college heads are expected to develop a road map to achieve the target. They must create a bar chart for annual growth rate from 2015-16 to 2022-23, the letter directs.
According to polytechnic college teachers, placement is an issue for girl students. The parents would hesitate to send their daughters to places outside of their town for jobs. As a result, fewer students are taking up such courses. Though there is demand for workforce in the MSME sector, the attitude of families has adversely affected the students’ careers.
Some polytechnic college teachers say the DoTE’s decision has given them an opportunity to enroll more girls and place them in the small units in the industrial belts.
Colleges were instructed to submit their proposals by January end. With the pandemic descending upon the State teachers say the deadline has naturally been extended.