Biomedical Engineering Students at SGSITS Transition from Hindi to English
Indore: The 2023 batch of Biomedical Engineering course offered in Hindi at Shri Govindram Seksaria Institute of Technology and Science (SGSITS) has been dissolved, making the second consecutive batch...
1
views

The Biomedical Engineering course in Hindi at Shri Govindram Seksaria Institute of Technology and Science (SGSITS) for the 2023 batch has been discontinued, marking the second consecutive year of the program being inactive. All nine students from the 2023 batch have opted to switch to the English-medium program. This switch happened during the internal branch sliding option offered to second-year students as part of the college's engineering admissions counseling based on merit criteria. The decision has raised concerns about the future sustainability of the Hindi-medium program, as the initial batch in 2022 also faced a similar fate when students withdrew from the course. The Hindi-language Biomedical Engineering program was launched in 2022 at SGSITS with the approval of the All India Council for Technical Education to offer engineering courses in Hindi. However, the program has struggled to attract students from the beginning. In 2023, ten students enrolled, but one withdrew early, leaving the remaining nine to complete a year in the course before switching to the English-medium program, leaving no students in the Hindi-medium program for two consecutive years. Dr. Prashant Bansod, the head of the biomedical engineering department, mentioned that during the internal branch sliding process, all students from the 2023 batch transitioned to the English-medium Biomedical Engineering program. SGSITS is currently the only institution in the country providing a Biomedical Engineering course in Hindi. The initiative, which aimed to promote technical education in regional languages, has not generated significant interest in Madhya Pradesh. College authorities have expressed concerns about the declining student interest, despite efforts to provide textbooks, course materials, and exam options in Hindi and Hinglish.Scratching one's head over choosing a different path may be influenced by external pressures, such as peer pressure or parental desires for pursuing English-language studies. Despite the lack of Hindi resources for Biomedical Engineering, the college faculty translated the course material and provided study materials in Hindi to support the BTech in Biomedical Engineering program in the language. Despite initial challenges, the college is determined to encourage and support the new cohort of 12 students in this field. The course was specifically created for students from Hindi medium backgrounds or rural areas and does not hinder placement opportunities. The students are being encouraged and reassured about future job prospects, according to SGSITS director Dr. Vijay Rode.