65 Pct Leap in Higher Education Enrollment in 4 Years

Bangalore: The number of students enrolling for higher education in India has shot up noticeably. The gross enrolment ratio (GER) for higher education has shot up from 12.4 to 20.2 says a recent survey done by the HRD ministry, reports TOI.

HRD minister Kapil Sibal said at a conference titled, EducatioNext, organized by The Times of India that the figure for India had been hovering at around 12. However, as per the survey it has moved forward in the last four years. The main focus of the conference was "India-The Education Superpower of the Future".

Sibal said "The results of the survey are tentative and not firm, but if validated, they are very encouraging. The ratio for developed countries is in the region of 35-40. The survey results show that we are getting there. If they hold, we can expect the ratio to go up to 30-35 by 2029," as reported by TOI.

GER is an assessment of the percentage of the relevant age group that is enrolled. The minister said that the difference in the GER is frequently the difference between developed and developing countries. He added that "The gross turnover of ideas, generated by the university system, is the real wealth of nations - often more valuable than GDP."

He said higher enrolment in universities is throwing up its own set of challenges. He further added that "This large influx into higher education (beyond 10+2 level) would possibly require 800 more universities and 50,000 more colleges. How can the physical infrastructure be built so quickly? Yet there can't be any delay. Even a year's delay means the child is older by a year." The number of kids competing for university education will touch 400 million, the size of the population of USA by 2030, he said.