Lokmat News Network
Mehboob Inamdar
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: In a concerted effort to boost enrolments in diploma programmes, the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) has been spearheading the School Connect initiative across the State.
Polytechnics and educational institutions are now gearing up to achieve record admissions for the academic year 2026-27, riding on the momentum generated by this flagship outreach drive.
Speaking to this newspaper, Joint Director of Technical Education (Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar) Dr Kiran Ladhane said the initiative was launched in November 2024, with counselling sessions and awareness campaigns encouraging students to opt for diploma courses for the academic year 2025-26.
The efforts have had a positive impact. Enrolments have risen consistently every year, reaching 93% in 2025-26, with 1,07,910 students taking admission. All institutions and teachers have performed commendably," he said.
He added that every Principal of government and non-government aided polytechnics was instructed to work in cooperation with their teachers towards achieving 100% admissions. Accordingly, the School Connect initiative for the academic year 2026-27 was launched on November 3, 2025.
He said that they could reach more than 1.2 lakh students in eight districts of Marathwada this year. He hoped that the ratio of admissions in polytechnic would surely rise.
Box
The district-wise number of students reached in the CSN division is as follows;
District-----------students connected
Beed---------------------12,041
Chh Sambhajinagar----25,831
Dharashiv---------------8,684
Hingoli------------------6,263
Jalna---------------------9,329
Latur---------------------13,307
Nanded------------------20,806
Parbhani------------------6,399
Total-----------------------1,02,660
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Key Initiatives Under School Connect 2026-27
--Career Fairs were organised for prospective students and parents, creating awareness about opportunities in Engineering and Architecture after completing diploma courses.
--Student-Parent Gatherings were held under the initiative, with information of attendees collected for follow-up.
--Students were informed about the diverse opportunities in technical education and how rapidly evolving technology can help shape a brighter future.
--Under NEP-2020, diploma courses are now offered in a Marathi-English bilingual format at polytechnics, and educational resource material in Marathi for select subjects is available free of charge on the MSBTE website.