Fewer Girls Offered Admissions in IIT This Year


Fewer Girls Offered Admissions in IIT This Year

Bangalore: There has been less number of girls who got into the Indian Institutes of Technology this year, said the Joint Entrance Exam 2012 report. The scenario was gloomy despite the IITs waiving the registration fee for girls, which saw a rise in the number of girls registering for the entrance exam.

The percentage of girls offered admissions dropped to 9.7 percent this year from 9.9 percent last year, reported Bhavya Dore for Hindustan Times. However, female candidates comprised 33 percent of the total JEE registrations in comparison with 23 percent in 2011. 10.2 percent of the candidates who got in, in 2010 were girls.

The report said “The reduction of application fees has presumably led to a 10 percent point increase in female registrations.” It also said that disturbingly, this rise reflected only a marginal increase in the percentage of female candidates qualified to move to the next level.

Vijay Singh, professor, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, Mankhurd, who analyzed gender and exam performance said “Perhaps parents are hesitant to send girls to cities with better facilities for exam preparation,” as reported by Hindustan Times.

It was noted that girls normally have better pass percentages in Class 12 exams, but seem unable to convert that success in the JEE. Gautam Barua, director of IIT Guwahati said “It’s difficult to say why. One theory is that girls are not sent for outstation coaching,” as reported by HT.

Girls have held lower ranks, as per the report. However, it was noted that this year’s female topper secured an all-India rank of 21. The IIT Indore batch this year was noted to have the best female ratio, with 18 percent of total admissions going to girls and the percentage was 10 at IIT Bombay.

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