Student enrolment in higher education grew by over 11 per cent in 5 years

Vibha Sharma
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, June 10 

Student enrolment in higher education witnessed an increase of 11.4 per cent while female enrolment saw a jump of 18.2 per cent between 2015 and 2020, according to the All India Survey on Higher Education (2019-2020), approved by Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ on Thursday. 

The total enrolment in higher education was 3.85 crore in 2019-2020 as compared to 3.74 crore in 2018-2019—a growth of 11.36 lakh (3.04 per cent). 

The total enrolment in 2014-15 was 3.42 crore.

The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), the percentage of students belonging to the eligible age group enrolled in higher education, was 27.1 per cent in 2019-2020 against 26.3 per cent in 2018-19 and 24.3 per cent in 2014-2015.

The Gender Parity Index (GPI) in higher education in 2019-2020 was 1.01 against 1.00 in 2018-19, indicating an improvement in the relative access to higher education for females of the eligible age group compared to males, according to the report. 

The report provides key performance indicators on the current status of higher education in the country, Pokhriyal said, attributing improvement in enrolment numbers to “continuous the focus given by the government to the education of girls, women empowerment and empowerment of socially backward classes under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi”.

All this is well reflected by the increased participation of women, SCs, and STs in higher education as shown by the report, Pokhriyal said.

Minister of State Sanjay Dhotre also termed the results as “indicators of the success of the policies adopted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the higher education sector of the country. I hope this report will help our policymakers to further improve the higher education scenario of the country”.

Higher Education secretary Amit Khare said, “The continuous rise in the enrolment, number of institutions, gender parity is a part of our country’s major move towards improving access, equity and quality in light of National Education Policy 2020”.

The report is 10th in the series of All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) annually released by the department.

According to the report, 3.38 crore students enrolled in programmes at the under-graduate and post-graduate level. 

Out of these, nearly 85 per cent of the students (2.85 crore) were enrolled in the six major disciplines Humanities, Science, Commerce, Engineering &Technology, Medical Science, and IT & Computer.