Mangaluru: Women students account for around 25% of the 7,000-odd students at the National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK) Surathkal, with the institute aiming to increase their representation to 50% to achieve gender parity, said deputy director Prof Subhash C Yaragal.Speaking to reporters on Thursday, ahead of the institute’s 24th annual convocation, Yaragal said the number of women students on campus had been steadily increasing. The institute is working to reach out to more girl students by creating awareness about opportunities at NITK and improving the campus environment, he said.“Gender equality is what we are looking for eventually,” Yaragal said, adding that the institute wanted to achieve a 50:50 representation of male and female students.NITK will hold its 24th annual convocation on Saturday at the Silver Jubilee Auditorium on its campus. A total 1,986 students will receive their degrees during the ceremony, which will be conducted in two sessions. The forenoon session will be dedicated to postgraduate and PhD students, while undergraduate students will receive their degrees during the afternoon session.JD Patil, president, Indian National Academy of Engineering, will be the chief guest at both sessions. MM Murugappan, chairperson of the NITK board of governors, will preside over the ceremonies.Of the 1,986 students graduating this year, 967 will receive BTech degrees, 680 MTech degrees, 12 MTech (Research) degrees, 66 MCA degrees, 74 MBA degrees, 68 MSc degrees and 119 PhD degrees. A total 46 students will receive institute gold medals and medals sponsored by various agencies for securing the highest CGPA. These include 11 BTech students and 35 postgraduate students.
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NITK, established in 1960 as Karnataka Regional Engineering College, completed 66 years this year and 24 years since it was renamed NITK in 2002. Yaragal said the institute had added two departments, including the Department of Design and Entrepreneurship and Artificial Intelligence.On infrastructure requirements, he said the institute received government support for its regular requirements but also relied on alumni contributions for additional facilities. While govt funding generally covered classrooms and laboratories, the institute required support for other campus infrastructure, including student amenities and recreational facilities. On PhD enrolment, Yaragal said 119 scholars would receive their degrees this year, compared with around 190 last year.He said student enrolment had continued to increase across undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral programmes, even as the number of PhD graduates fluctuated from year to year.
