Established in 1916, SNDT Women’s University (SNDTWU) has been a pioneer in women’s education. The University set up the Premlila Vithaldas Polytechnic (PVP) in 1976, which offers a wide array of job-oriented technical and vocational courses related to administration, design, engineering, science, and paramedics. Yashasvini Razdan from Electronics For You spoke to Prof. Dinesh Girap, Head of Department, Electronics, PVP-SNDTWU, and got some very interesting details.
Q. How can we encourage more and more girls to study electronics and allied fields?
A. Thank you so much for asking me this question. SNDTW University opened its first polytechnic college in 1976, only for girls, and it is one of the oldest polytechnic colleges in Mumbai. When it comes to electronics, the number of women opting to study this field is almost one-third of the total number of electronics engineers.
In order to encourage and foster an interest in STEM, we have come up with our own school connect program, called Prayas. Under this initiative we use an open source ARM-based hardware platform, called micro:bit, developed by BBC in the United Kingdom. PVP-SNDTWU has collaborated with a few private schools and 50 schools run by Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
We invite eighth and higher grade girl students to our campus during the summer vacations to build projects using the BBC micro:bit platform and develop technical thinking skills. We are doing this free of cost! We are trying to develop their interest in STEM and cultivate a curiosity towards electronics and computers. All members of our faculty participate in this exercise.
We conduct awareness programs in schools, reach out to the society by engaging with NGOs associated with us, involve our alumni to motivate our current college and school students. Fostering passion for electronics requires ongoing efforts and collaboration between educators, parents, role models, and the community.
Q. What kind of jobs are available for polytechnic graduates and what does the job market look like currently?
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