Enrollment in higher education: Tamil Nadu, Himachal, Uttarakhand, Kerala emerge top 'achievers'

NEW DELHI: Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Kerala have emerged as top-performing "achievers" states in gross enrolment ratio (GER) in higher education institutions in 2021-22, according to a report released by NITI Aayog on Monday.

The report -- ' Expanding Quality Higher Education through States and State Public Universities ' -- further said Chhattisgarh, Nagaland, Jharkhand, and Bihar were the worst-performing states in GER in higher education institutions and have been listed under "aspirational" category.

According to the report, Kerala, Himachal, and Arunachal Pradesh were top-performing states with respect to dedadal growth in GER (2011-12 versus 2021-22). The report, released by NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery has listed Sikkim, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, and Karnataka under the "front-runners" category.

As per report, pupil-teacher ratio was the lowest in universities in Tamil Nadu, Goa, and Karnataka and highest in universities in Jharkhand and Bihar. It also said Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal have emerged as top performing states with regards to decadal improvement in PTR (2011-12 versus 2021-22). As per the report, Bihar spends 1.56 per cent GSDP on higher education, followed by Manipur (1.56 per cent) and Meghalaya (1.33 per cent). Karnataka leads with a college density of 66, which is more than twice the national average, followed by Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, and Kerala.

The states with the least college densities are Manipur, Bihar, and Jharkhand. College density is the total number of colleges per 1 lakh eligible population (18-23 years of age) in a state. The national average college density was 30 in 2022. Sikkim has the highest average university density of 10.3, followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, and Uttarakhand. These are all sparsely populated regions.

National Average University Density lowest in Bihar

The national average university density is 0.8. In the highly populated states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Maharashtra, density at the state-level is below the national average, with Bihar recording the lowest at 0.2. "This indicates that while the absolute number of universities and colleges is rapidly growing, their distribution among the population is unequal, especially in the high population states," the report noted. Hence, efforts need to be made to ensure equitable access to higher education by improving university density in these states, it added.

The report suggested that there is a need to introduce a National Research Policy and designate leading SPUs as research and knowledge partners. It also pitched for establishing state-level Infrastructure Finance Agency for State Public Universities (SPUs) on the lines of HEFA. "Revamp composition of governing councils and promote administrative appointments from teaching fraternity," the report suggested. State public universities account for 81 per cent of the total student enrolment among Indian Higher Education Institution (HEIs).

The report called for greater financial and administrative autonomy to states and state public universities and higher budgetary outlays. "Increase central and state government's allocation towards education, aiming to reach the 6 per cent of GDP as recommended under the National Education Policy , 2020," it said.

495 State Public Universities in India

As per the report, the combined expenditure by the Centre and states on university and higher education (as a percentage of GDP) is 0.62 per cent and on technical education is 0.95 per cent. Overall expenditure on education is 4.64 per cent of the GDP. Speaking on the occasion, Bery said in many global education systems, public universities set the benchmark for excellence, as seen in the US and Brazil.

NITI Aayog Member Vinod Kumar Paul positioned the report in the context of NEP implementation and India's vision for Viksit Bharat 2047. India has 495 SPUs with Karnataka leading at 43, followed by West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh with 38 each. At the time of India's Independence in 1947, the country's education system was fraught with challenges.

India had only 17 universities and 636 colleges serving about 2.38 lakh students. The literacy rate was alarmingly low at 14 per cent, and expenditure on education constituted less than 0.5 per cent of the national income. According to the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) report 2021-2022, there were 1,168 universities, 45,473 colleges and 12,002 standalone institutions in the country.