In a boost to vocational education in Punjab, the state ITIs have witnessed an unprecedented 25 per cent surge in admissions.
Technical Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains said the admissions to Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) across the state have surged by an impressive 25%, rising from 28,000 to 35,000 in the current academic year.
He said efforts are being made under a focused mission in this direction, with the number of ITI seats increased during the current academic session and there are plans to expand the total seats to 50,000 in the next two academic years.
The department plans to increase the number of seats in ITIs to 50,000 over the next two years.
The minister said that prior to the 2023 academic session, many of the 28,000 seats in state-run ITIs remained vacant, adding that the goal for the 2023 session was to achieve 100 per cent enrolment in ITIs and efforts were made to reach this objective. As a result, an additional 7,000 seats had to be added during the current academic session.
Highlighting key achievements, he said the state government increased the seating capacity in 137 government ITIs from 28,880 to 35,000 for the 2024-25 academic year. He said that the ITIs are now offering 86 trades, including both engineering and non-engineering options, catering to a wide range of career aspirations, besides introducing cutting-edge courses such as Additive Manufacturing (3D Printing), Electric Vehicle Mechanics, Industrial Robotics, Digital Manufacturing and Drone Technology.
Taking about gender equality push in the ITIs, the minister said 33% reservation for women across all trades has been implemented, resulting in increased female participation in vocational training.
