Med enrolment up 51%, engg down 13%: Survey

NEW DELHI: As the gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher education in India crossed the 27% mark, GER for females at 27.3% was for the second consecutive year a higher percentage compared to males at 26.9%.
In the last five years, female enrolment recorded an 18.2% increase as overall enrolment in higher education grew by11.4% in the same period. The number of universities has increased by 30.5% during the period of 2015-16 to 2019-20 and colleges by about 8.4% in the same period. UP, with the highest student enrolment in India, has 49.1% male and 50.9% female students. Karnataka is the other state with higher female enrolment compared to male students.
Interestingly, according to the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2019-20 report released on Thursday, there is a significant shift in the choice of discipline of study, as engineering and technology registered a negative 13.4% growth in the last five years, while medical science enrolment is up by 51.1% in the same period.
Of the 42,343 colleges, almost 60.6% are located in rural areas and nearly 10.8% colleges are exclusively for girls. And majority of the colleges (78.6%) in the country, are privately managed, led by Andhra Pradesh (81%), Telangana (80%), Uttar Pradesh
(78.5%) and Tamil Nadu
(77.6%). Also 65.5% of the colleges enrol less than 500 students, while 4% of the colleges have enrolment of more than 3,000 students.
The enrolment in higher education stands at 3.9 crore in 2019-20 as compared to 3.7 crore in 2018-19, registering a growth of nearly 11.5 lakh (3%). Total enrolment was 3.4 crore in 2014-15. GER of students belonging to the eligible age group enrolled in higher education in 2019-20 is 27.1% against 26.3% in 2018-19 and 24.3% in 2014-2015. Gender Parity Index (GPI) has increased during the last five years, from 0.9 in 2015- 16 to 1.01, which is a socioeconomic index usually designed to measure the relative access to education of males and females. Education minister Ramesh Pokhriyal said the government’s focus on education of girls, women empowerment and empowerment of socially backward classes are well reflected by the increased participation of women, SCs and STs in higher education. “We have noted a growth of educational institutes in India, ” he said.