Rourkela: President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday said girls should be encouraged to pursue technical education and excel in the same manner as they do in other areas.
Addressing the 18th annual convocation of the National Institute of Technology (NIT)- Rourkela, he said the enrolment of women in technical and scientific disciplines in the country is low.
Pointing out that enrolment of women in engineering and technical institutes across India is only about 20 per cent according to a recent survey, he said the country needs more girls to pursue higher education especially in science, technology, engineering and Mathematics. “Growth in the excellence of women in technical areas will add a new dimension to our national development,” he added.
Talking about the performance of girl students of NIT Rourkela, Kovind said out of 7,116 students, 1,518 are girl students (21%) while out of 7 gold medals awarded by him today, three have gone to the girl students.
Expressing happiness over the performance of the girl students, he said as the President of India, he happens to be the visitor of about 150 central institutions.
“In most of the convocations I attend, I noticed that our girls are outshining our boys and winning more gold medals in liberal arts, humanities, medical sciences, law and several areas. This is indeed a heartening trend and reflects the potential of our daughters,” he observed.
