HYDERABAD: While enrolment numbers in higher education saw an overall rise in all courses, with Telangana being one of the states that have recorded Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) way above the national average, in the last eight years, the State’s GER has made progress by only 3.1 per cent, according to the latest All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) for 2018-19, released by the HRD ministry.
From a GER of 33.01 per cent in 2012-13, the State in 2018-19 recorded 36.2 per cent, as against the national average of 26.3 per cent. Meanwhile, other states like Sikkim, Chandigarh and Tamil Nadu which are the top performers, have seen a progression in GER by 25.7 per cent, 8.4 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively.
Another interesting trend observed in AISHE 2018-19 with regards to Telangana, is that while enrolment of women in higher education has seen a steady rise, from 29.3 per cent in 2012-13 to 36.5 per cent in 2018-19, that of men has seen a decline from 36.9 per cent to 35.8 per cent in the same period.
The GER among SCs has also seen a marginal rise from 32.2 per cent in 2012-13 to 33.7 per cent in 2018-19. Interestingly, while enrolment of women from this community, in this period, rose by 3.7 per cent, that of men fell by 4.3 per cent.
For STs, the GER increased from 29.1 per cent to 36.4 per cent for the same period, albeit with a negligible change in the GER for men — 0.2 per cent. The enrolment of women in this category saw a jump of 7.2 per cent.
Meanwhile, Telangana along with neighbouring Andhra Pradesh continues to hold the top slot for the maximum number of private unaided colleges in the country. While in AP, private-unaided colleges constitute about 82 per cent of all higher educational institutions, in Telangana it is 80 per cent.
Rise in overall numbers
According to the AISHE 2018-19, the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education in India has risen marginally from 25.8 per cent in 2017-18 to 26.3 per cent in 2018-19, with men constituting 26.3 per cent and women 26.4 per cent. The GER for SCs has also grown from 21.8 per cent to 23 per cent, and STs from 16.9 per cent to 17.2 per cent