4 min readPuneMay 30, 2024 11:09 PM IST
First published on: May 30, 2024 at 11:09 PM IST
After clearing his 12th boards, Suyog Chavan, wanted to get an admission for a course in Computer Engineering. He had secured 98.14 percent CET, but didn’t make it in the cut off for the four institutes he had prioritised. Chavan however came across a course in Computer Engineering in Marathi. It was the first time he heard about it, so he visited the Pimpri Chinchwad College of Engineering (PCCOE) for inquiry and listed the course as his fifth preference which got him admission to the 2022 batch.
On July 29, 2021, to facilitate teaching-learning processes, it was announced that technical education will be imparted in regional languages as well. Thirteen institutes from eight states and five languages were given additional 60 seats each in Engineering and Technology subjects from the academic session 2021-22. It included eight institutes which offered the course in Hindi, two in Tamil, one in Bengali, one in Telugu, and one in Marathi. To help these institutes facilitate the course All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), started developing ‘Artificial Intelligence Indian Language Translation Tool’ to develop content for the course.
How is it taught?
At PCCOE, the course has one division and the intake is for 60 seats for the first year. Rachna Patil, Head Of Department, B. Tech Computer Engineering (Marathi), says that through lateral entry the number of admissions go up to 72 students.
“Most students who take admission for the course come from an English medium background. In fact, there are some non-marathi students too. We don’t use Marathi fully. It is taught in blended mode, so language doesn’t become a barrier for students. Our primary focus is to help students understand the concepts more clearly”, said Patil.
Patil also highlights that students refer to English textbooks only. AICTE had provided the institute with first year textbooks in Marathi. “But we don’t make it compulsory for students to refer to those. Technically everything is similar to the course in English including the syllabus. We just ensure the faculty can speak Marathi, so they can explain concepts in a blended mode”, she said.
Chavan says the students are provided an option on whether to take exams in English or Marathi. He and all his friends choose to take the exam in English.
Devashish Gaikwad, a final year student now, who had enrolled in the first batch when the course was launched is also an English medium student. “I understand English and Marathi both, so I didn’t have an issue with the medium of instruction. My priority was to get a computer engineering degree from a good institute. The coding part has to happen in English anyway”, he said.
Gaikwad also refers to books in English. “In my friend’s group, all are from the English medium. So we study from English textbooks and also take the exam in English. There are some students who don’t understand English that well, so professors explain concepts to them in Marathi”, he said.
“I am comfortable learning in a blended mode. In school also they would provide context in marathi, it being our mother tongue after all, makes it easier to catch on concepts quickly”, said Chavan.
In 2025, the first batch to take admission for the course will be sitting for placements. “We are expecting the placements to go similar to all other courses, depending on that we will plan for an increase in intake, if needed”, said Patil.
At PCCOE, the course has one division and the intake is for 60 seats for the first year. (Express photo/File) 
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