Ever since 2012, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) has been taking surveys and compiling the data which informs about different aspects in higher education like student enrollment in higher education, gender ratio and Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER).
This is done with the help of the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE). As per the AISHE report this year, women have been more moved by the higher education idea and the numbers are steadily on the rise.
Student enrollment on an all-time high
In the latest term 2018-19, overall student enrollment in higher education institutes was more than 37.4 million. Of these, 19.2 million were men and 18.2 million were women. But taking a look at the scene since the 2011-12 term, the overall enrollment has increased by 8.2 million. Out of these 8.2 million, almost 5.2 million were women while the rest 3 million were men. This shows a whopping 4.9% CAGR (Compounded annual growth rate) in the case of women.
If we take the ratios of the past three years, men’s enrollment CAGR has fallen from a y-year 2.5% to 1.1%. This means that there’s a rise of just 5000 men in the past three years in higher education institutes. Women, on the other hand, have increased their number by 750,000.
To add to the appreciation, the Gender Parity Index for higher education, for the very first time, has reached 1.0 in India. THE GER for women has risen from 19.4 to 25.4 in the six years since the 2011-12 term. In the latest term, it jumped to 26.4. The GER for men has been stuck at 26.3 for years.
According to projection reports by AISHE and FICCI( Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry), it is expected that student enrollment between the age of 18-23 will increase in higher education. The GER could rise up to 50 by the end of 2030. The number of higher education institutions is increasing in the country. With the current GER, student enrollment is approximately 700 per college. By 2030, it is expected to shoot to 1375 per college.
