120 Students Enroll in IIT Jodhpur’s Hindi BTech Programme; More Males Than Females

The Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur (IITJ) declared about two months ago that starting this academic year, incoming undergraduate students will have the choice of receiving instruction in Hindi or English.

Students at IIT Jodhpur are taking the course more often even though the change is new and was announced suddenly. On September 14, Hindi Divas 2024, indianexpress.com examines the success of IIT Jodhpur's new BTech Hindi program this year.

There were 120 students who chose to pursue a BTech in a subject other than English; 106 were men and 14 were women. IIT Jodhpur has chosen to refer its Hindi BTech as BTech in a language other than English (conversation language) rather than imposing rigid regulations. This means that rather than using chaste Hindi, the explanations will be given in a form of Hinglish (Hindi plus English), with the technical words in English.

The institute thinks that doing this will solve the comprehension issue. IIT Jodhpur will divide the class in proportion to which students feel more at ease speaking Hindi or English in a physics course; nonetheless, the same professor will instruct in both languages. As institute head Avinash Kumar Agarwal had previously stated, "The same professor means the rigor will be the same." 

Fascinatingly, Rajasthan accounts for 49 percent of the students who choose to enroll in Hindi or "non-English" BTech programs, followed by Maharashtra (14), Uttar Pradesh (12), and finally Bihar (11). In addition, six students from each of the states of Madhya Pradesh and Delhi, five from Gujarat, four from Haryana, three from Uttarakhand and West Bengal, two from Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu, and one from each of Punjab, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh have enrolled in the project.

The admissions procedure for this "non-English" BTech at IIT Jodhpur was the same as that for the English BTech degree; however, before the beginning of the academic year, first-year students were asked if they would prefer to receive instruction in Hindi or English.

Afterwards, the group will be split into two halves according to whether they would rather learn in Hindi or English. To ensure uniformity and rigor in instruction, the same instructor will instruct both parts. Students will have the option to move between sections, though.

IIT Jodhpur told indianexpress.com that the "institute has taken this bold step to help the students to support their initial phase of the academic journey and by this, they can develop their skills and ability to study the remaining years of UG Program in the English Language" in response to a question about whether the institute now plans to expand the option to second year students too next year.