Girls make up 49% of IIT Madras School Connect enrolment

Girls account for 49% of enrolment in IIT Madras’ School Connect programme, according to figures reported by The Indian Express. Boys make up the remaining 51%, putting participation close to an equal split in an outreach initiative designed to help school students explore their academic interests.

The newspaper’s report, published on October 16 and highlighted in its October 17 coverage, says the initiative has a network of 6,406 partner schools. IIT Madras aims to expand that network to 25,000 schools in the coming years. That larger number is a target, rather than the programme’s current reach.

School Connect is run through IIT Madras’ Centre for Outreach and Digital Education. Its official programme pages describe online learning for students in Classes IX to XII, offered through participating schools. Courses run for four to eight weeks and introduce different fields to help learners consider their higher-education choices.

The programme website says students who successfully meet course requirements receive electronic certificates from IIT Madras CODE. Families should distinguish these outreach certificates from admission to an IIT degree: the programme is an opportunity to explore a subject while still at school.

For a school interested in joining, the official School Connect portal is the starting point for programme information and partnership enquiries. The near-equal enrolment share is encouraging, while the next practical question is whether more schools can make these opportunities available to their students.