Girls Reservation in IITs Seems a Right Step but How It Will Help |
Posted: January 16, 2018 |
Gender ratio on IIT campuses has always been a debatable topic since the existence of these institutes in 1961. Number of female students in IITs increased at little pace a few years ago but it dipped again in previous year. Thus, Ministry of Human Resources Department (MHRD) directed the IITs to reserve 14% of seats for female students sarting from the academic session 2018-19. The decision was taken to encourage women in the field of Science & Technology. These instructions from Ministry are just a part of long-term plan of government to increase the percentage up to 20%. Starting from the academic session 2018-19, 14% reservation will be given to female candidates soaring up to 17% in 2019 and 20% in 2020. An official at Human Resources Department said, “The 20% supernumerary quota will kick in only if the admission of female candidates to a course is abysmally low. For instance, if there are 100 seats and only 10 of them have been taken by women, then the institute will add 20 per cent seats over and above the actual strength, but only for women. The effort will be to lower the cut-off till these extra seats are filled up by women.” It has been observed that number of female students enrolled at IIT JEE in 2014 and 2015 increased slightly but then in the year 2016, the number got decreased. In 2014, the percent of female students admitted in IITs was 8.8%, slight increase in 2016 up to 9% and then dipped in 2016 up to 8%. Reservation is being introduced in a hope that it will encourage female students to consider career in Science & Technology. If global figures are noted, the ratio of women to men in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics is quite terrible. So, gender discrimination is not an issue in India. There are number of factors responsible for hindering the career path of women in Engineering and Technology and it has nothing to do with the rigidity of entrance exams. Medical Science may answer few of the things since its entrance exam is as tough as engineering. India produces more female doctors than male. In last half a decade, around 4,500 more female doctors emerged than male doctors. In 2014-15, around 23,522 seats were occupied by female students while 22,934 seats were occupied by men. Thus, 51% of the seats in medical colleges were occupied by female students. Incongruously, there are fewer female doctors working as compared to men. As per the statistics of a research paper, Human Resources for Health in India, of all the allopathic doctors, only 17% are women. The major reason of this substantial dropout could be stringent gender stereotypes according to which women must be responsible for domestic chores only. If more female students will get admission into IITs, it will create a positive environment resulting in gender balance. It will also result into better results and graduates. Commutation can be another major reason. To clear entrance exam for IIT JEE advance, students have to attend coaching classes exhaustively. It often requires travelling to long distances and reaching home late. It arise the safety questions among parents. Considering this logic, lesser number of girl students attends coaching classes leading to fewer landing on IIT campuses. Source- India Times
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