CHENNAI: The state has further solidified its position as country’s higher education hub, with its gross enrollment ratio (GER) climbing to 52.3 in 2023-24 academic year. According to the latest All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) report, the state’s participation rate is now 75% more than the national average of 30. The data reveal a consistent upward trend in GER.
In 2021-22, TN’s GER stood at 47.0. This rose to 49.1 in 2022-23, before jumping more than three percentage points to reach the current 52.3 in 2023-24. This steady increase highlights the state’s successful efforts in expanding access to higher education even as the national average grew more modestly from 28.4 to 30.0 over the same period.
The female GER has risen to 53.1, consistently staying ahead of the male GER, which currently stands at 51.6. This gender-positive trend has been sustained over the last three years. In 2021-22, the female ratio was 47.3 (46.8 male), and it reached 49.3 (48.8 male) in 2022-23.
Consequently, the state maintains a Gender Parity Index (GPI) of 1.03, signifying that more women are entering the higher education system than men. Academicians claim the Pudhumai Penn scheme, which was launched in 2022 to encourage more girls to pursue higher education, has played crucial role in increasing female GER.
The GER for Scheduled Castes (SC) is 44.4, while the Scheduled Tribe (ST) ratio is 42.9, both figures are approximately double their respective national averages. Notably, the female SC GER of 45.2 has surpassed the male SC GER of 43.5. However, a specific challenge remains for tribal women- the ST male GER (47.6) is significantly higher than the female ST GER (38.2), resulting in a lower GPI of 0.80 for this category.
“It is a matter of concern that while girls’ enrolment in the General and SC categories exceeds that of boys, enrolment among ST girls is nearly 10 percentage points lower than that of boys from those communities. We need to conduct an analysis to understand the reasons behind this disparity measures to bring more tribal girls to classrooms,” said K Sivamani, retired principal from a government arts and science college.