The Delhi Government launched the “Education Mentoring Programme” through its “Youth for Education” initiative, which focuses on mentoring of girls studying in grades IX to XII in Delhi Government Schools. Under the programme, students will be mentored by B.Tech, M.Tech, PhD and MBA students of Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University of Women.
On the involvement of women and girls in the field of innovation, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said, “Our world is becoming a knowledge economy with dedicated research and innovation quickly becoming the key to progress. Although our nation is seeing some major innovations in every field of work, these innovations are mostly led by men. The participation of women is abysmal when it comes to innovation, especially in the field of STEM. According to a study I recently came across, women form only 33 per cent of the total workforce in research and innovation in STEM in South Asia.”
Sisodia said, “With the Education Mentoring Programme, Delhi Government wants to empower students of Delhi in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. We want our students, especially our girls, to receive the right guidance, which will help them build sustainable innovations. It is our vision that our girls equally dominate the STEM sector.”
Addressing the mentors, he said, “If I have to speak about the enrolment rate of pre-primary and primary schools, approximately 21 lakh children are enrolled every year. However, only 10,000 girls take up STEM studies in higher education. Our students and teachers are continuously endeavouring to work hard in this field but we need to fill in this gap. Therefore, your participation and mentoring will play a crucial role.”
“Our Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wants to bring in a revolution in education. When I used to visit government schools earlier, I was always astonished to see how dilapidated the buildings were, how unsanitary the classes were. We laid the foundation of basic education to help our students take pride in attending government schools. We built the professional capacity of our teachers and sent them all over the world - Harvard, Cambridge, Singapore and Finland for training. Delhi Government school children attained a 98 per cent pass percentage in CBSE board exams. Our students are going to IITs without any coaching,” he said.
Appreciating the efforts of mentors in guiding students, he said, “Many students, especially male students are going to IITs without any guidance. They receive guidance from their teachers or fathers and brothers. I am aware that a lot of students are confused about their long-term goals and they require the right information at the right time because making such decisions can be challenging. The best kind of guidance a student can receive is from his/her senior and I am happy that you will play a key role in guiding our students,” he said.