HYDERABAD: In a worrying trend, the number of students enrolling for Under Graduate as well as Post Graduate courses in Telangana has been gradually declining in the State.
This has come to light in the latest All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) report. According to the report, the number of students who enrolled in PG courses declined from 2.02 lakh in the year 2015-16 to 1.84 lakh in 2019-20, whereas the number of students enrolled in UG courses declined to 10.7 lakh in 2019-20 from 11.6 lakh in 2015-16.
In most other States, the trend is opposite and the number of students pursuing higher education has been increasing. For example, during the same time period, in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, the number of students enrolled in PG courses increased from 2 lakh to 2.39 lakh and from 4.5 lakh to 4.79 lakh, respectively. The report has indicated another concerning trend — a drop in the number of teachers in higher educational institutions.
Between 2015-16 and 2019-20, number of Professors, Associate Professors and Assistant Professors in the State declined from 7,594 to 7,190, from 9,302 to 7,444 and from 69,357 to 62,123, respectively.
Gowri Satish, convener of the KG to PG JAC Chairman, said, “The main reasons behind the decline is lack of enough employment opportunities and higher education not being a priority for the government.
Recruitment in the government sector has been limited while in the private sector, no major industrial development resulting in employment generation has occurred.” President of Osmania University Teachers Association Prof B Manohar said, “The decline in number of teachers is not surprising. OU has not seen recruitment since the State’s formation.”