State per capita expenditure stands at Rs 13,104 for students
Tamil Nadu spends 1.5 per cent of its gross state domestic product on Higher Education. (Photo: DC/File)
Chennai: With TN government’s commitment to enhance the quality of education, the state has topped the country by spending 1.5 per cent of its gross state domestic product (GSDP) on higher education, whereas states like Gujarat (0.39 per cent) and Kerala (0.68 per cent) had lesser allocation.
Providing the statistics, the Union HRD minister, Smriti Zubin Irani, in her reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha recently pointed out that TN’s per-capita expenditure on higher education stood at 13,104. The former VC of Madras University, Prof S.P. Thyagarajan, said the state was spending huge amount for higher education for a long time compared to other states.
“This is what the Centre too expects from every state as it provides equal amount, as grant, under Rashtriya Ucchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) scheme. Under RUSA, every state has to give a commitment to the Union government that they would spend at least 1.5 per cent of their GSDP for higher education,” he said.
Professor S. Vaidhyasubramaniam, dean, Sastra University, noted that TN’s investment in higher education had been broad-based covering school, vocational, technical, professional and non-professional courses. “This explains the diversity in student enrolment. The next round of investment in disruptive innovations will provide a sustainable competitive advantage to TN making vision 2023 a reality,”he added.
Eminent academician said that even though TN is better than other states in higher education, it had to do much more in school education.
( Source : dc )
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