The special programme titled ‘Vigyan Jyoti,’ that commenced today will continue up to June 24. As many as 40 girl students mostly from government school across Odisha are participating in the event.
For the next two weeks, prominent female scientists, faculty, entrepreneurs and administrators will share their experiences with the students and inform them about the career options available in field of science and technology, business and administration.
The students will be taken on trips to planetariums, science labs, research centres and places of historical interest, informed the authorities. Inspiring movies and documentaries on interesting science topics and biographies of famous female achievers will also be shown to motivate the students.
“The Vigyan Jyoti programme is funded by Department of Science and Technology (DST). Besides the travel, boarding, and lodging, the IIT Bhubaneswar is proving the participants with a scholarship of Rs. 5000,” informed a senior official.
"The holistic programme aims to encourage and inspire girl students to pursue higher education and become self-reliant. Such an exposure for girl students coming from rural background would help understand how to plan their journey from school to college and thereafter from research to a job of their choice in the field of science,” said the institute's registrar in-charge, Debaraj Rath.
This kind of early grooming will definitely help in promoting interest in science and technology and reap huge rewards for them in future, he said.
The programme 'Vigyan Jyoti' aims to tap 100 girl students in 550 districts from 2020-2025, the officials said. The students will be chosen based on their percentile, they added.
The initiative is likely to be launched by the end of this month, Sanjiv Mishra, Scientist with the Department of Science and Technology (DST), said. Mishra is overseeing the programme.
Data compiled by the DST shows that females comprised 24 per cent of the total pas-out students in STEM subjects in engineering, 22 per cent at the post graduate level, 28 per cent at M Phil and 35 per cent at the PhD level.
DST Secretary Ashutosh Sharma told PTI that the programme would include holding science camps for the girl students in nearby IITs, NITs and national laboratories.
"It will give them the experience of what it feels like being on a campus of a premiere institute in terms of culture, motivation, interaction with scientists," he said.
The programme will cover girl students from grade 9 to 12, Sharma said.
"If you look at the underrepresented areas for girls, they are engineering, mathematics, theoretical sciences, physics to some extent," he said.
Sharma said there are only 10 per cent of girls in the IITs and the number has remained static over the years.
"So, we need a different kind of intervention in order to boost the numbers. They (girl students) do not see the role model and leadership in these areas and all of this has to be addressed," he said.
The programme also has financial dimension. The girls will be given a modest financial incentive to cover their additional expense like travel to camps.
"It also guarantees that if the girl gets into an underrepresented area like the IIT then they would receive a fellowship," Sharma added.
The programme, he said, would also include counselling the parents of the girl students. This will assuage their concerns of getting into an underrepresented area, Sharma added.
The programme envisages students' interactions with top women leaders in the area of science and technology, corporate world, universities and top institute like the DRDO.
This, Sharma said, can help them gain confidence to make a mark in these areas.