Tamil Nadu's Higher Education Department officials said that the majority of students in polytechnic colleges are male. As the polytechnic colleges currently offer hardcore technical courses, which help them secure jobs, it, however, fails to attract women students though it is also aimed at making the students more employable.
New-age courses have been launched in six government polytechnic colleges on a pilot basis and will, later on, be extended to other colleges. Mechanical Engineering and Computer-Aided Design (CAD) course have commenced in Central Polytechnic College, Chennai while Office Management and Computer Application course in State Institute of Commerce Education, Chennai have begun.
Similarly, a course on ECG Technology will be offered at Government Polytechnic College in Coimbatore, Web Technologies in Tamil Nadu Polytechnic College in Madurai, Bio-Medical Electronics in Government Polytechnic College, Nagercoil and Interior Decoration in Dr Dharmambal Government Polytechnic College for Women, Chennai.
"Our aim is to increase the enrollment of girls in polytechnic colleges. New age courses like Interior Decoration, Bio-Medical Electronics will definitely attract many students and provide them with better job opportunities," said a senior higher education official.
Arrangements for curating study materials and recruiting teaching faculty for these courses will be made. The government has also been taking measures to enhance the skills of the students to match the industrial requirements and create better job opportunities.
"Industry need-based add on courses at cost of Rs 3 crore for final year students is being conducted at government polytechnic colleges from the year 2021-22 in collaboration with Tamil Nadu Skill Development Corporation and so far, over 3,000 students have been benefited," said a senior higher education official.
