Nearly two months ago, the Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur (IIT-J) announced that the new batch of undergraduate students will be offered the option of being taught in either Hindi or English from this academic year. Although the change is new and was announced all of a sudden, the course has gained popularity among the IIT Jodhpur students. On the occasion of Hindi Divas 2024 - September 14, indianexpress.com takes a look at how the idea of IIT Jodhpur's new BTech Hindi has performed this year. As per the data accessed by indianexpress.com, 120 students opted for BTech in non-English; of these, 14 are female and 106 are male students. IIT Jodhpur has not implemented strict rules for Hindi BTech and has preferred to call it BTech in non-English (conversation language). This means that the technical terms will be in English, but the explanation will be in sort of Hinglish (Hindi + English), and not in chaste Hindi. This, the institute believes, will remove the problem in understanding. If in a Physics course, some students are comfortable with English, and others with Hindi, then IIT Jodhpur will divide the batch accordingly, but the same professor will teach both mediums. The same professor means rigor will be the same, institute director Avinash Kumar Agarwal had earlier told The Indian Express. State No. of students Opted Andhra Pradesh 1 Bihar 11 Delhi 6 Gujrat 5 Haryana 4 Jharkhand 2 Karnataka 1 Maharashtra 14 Madhya Pradesh 6 Punjab 1 Rajasthan 49 Tamil Nadu 2 Uttar Pradesh 12 Uttarakhand 3 West Bengal 3 Grand Total 120 Interestingly, the majority of students who opted for Hindi or 'non-English' BTech programme hail from Rajasthan (49), followed by Maharashtra (14), Uttar Pradesh (12) and then Bihar (11). Besides, the programme has six students from Delhi and Madhya Pradesh each, five from Gujrat, four from Haryana, three each from Uttarakhand and West Bengal, two each from Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu, and one each from Punjab, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. In this 'non English' BTech, IIT Jodhpur followed the same admission process as the English BTech degree admission, but at the start of the academic year, the first-year students were asked for their preference to be taught in English or Hindi. The batch will then be divided into two sections, based on their preference for Hindi or English medium of instruction. The same professor will teach both sections to maintain consistency and rigour in education. However, students will also be given the choice of switching between sections. When asked if the institute now plans to expand the option to second year students too next year, IIT Jodhpur told indianexpress.com that the "institute has taken this bold step to help the students to support their initial phase of the academic journey and by this, they can develop their skills and ability to study the remaining years of UG Program in the English Language".
