The enrollment of girls students in undergraduate courses of Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) has increased from 8 per cent in 2016 to 20 per cent in 2021, the Ministry of Education (MoE) reported today to the Rajya Sabha.
Responding to a question posed in Rajya Sabha, Union Education Minister Subhas Sarkar said there has been a consistent improvement in the enrollment of female students in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) courses.
“To improve women’s enrollment in undergraduate programs in IITs, excess seats were created, increasing women’s enrollment from 8 percent in 2016 to 20 in 2021-22. Similarly, girls’ enrollment in NITs is up to nearly 22.1 percent in 2021-22,” he said.
The University Grants Commission provides special postgraduate scholarships for girl students across the country to encourage them to pursue higher education and research. Similarly, All India Council for Technical Education also provides 10,000 scholarships to girls pursuing technical education.
According to the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) report, the number of female students enrolled in STEM courses increased from 41.97 lakh in 2016-17 to 43.87 lakh in 2020-21.
