Student enrolment up by 11.4 per cent in higher education: AISHE report 2019-20
New Delhi: Over the last five years from, there has been a growth of 11.4 per cent in the student enrolment in higher education with an increase of 18.2 per cent in female enrolment, according to the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2019-20.
Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal on Thursday approved the release of the report of AISHE 2019-20, which provides key performance indicators on the current status of Higher education in the country.
According to an official statement Pokhriyal said: "In the last five years from 2015-16 to 2019-20, there has been a growth of 11.4 per cent in the student enrolment. The rise in female enrolment in higher education during the period is 18.2 per cent."
Pokhriyal emphasized that the continuous focus given by the government under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on education of girls, women empowerment and empowerment of socially backward classes are well reflected by the increased participation of women, SCs and STs population in Higher Education as shown by the report.
Secretary, Higher Education Amit Khare said, "This report is the tenth in the series of AISHE annually released by department of Higher Education. The continuous rise in the enrolment, number of institutions, gender parity is a part of our country's major move towards improving access, equity and quality in light of National Education Policy 2020."
Some of the key features of AISHE 2019-20 report revealed that the total enrolment in Higher Education stands at 3.85 crore in 2019-20 as compared to 3.74 crore in 2018-19, registering a growth of 11.36 lakh (3.04 per cent). Total enrolment was 3.42 crore in 2014-15, said the report.
Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), the percentage of students belonging to the eligible age group enrolled in Higher Education, in 2019-20 is 27.1 per cent against 26.3 per cent in 2018-19 and 24.3 per cent in 2014-2015.
"Gender Parity Index (GPI) in Higher Education in 2019-20 is 1.01 against 1.00 in 2018-19 indicating an improvement in the relative access to higher education for females of eligible age group compared to males," the report said.
It further stated that the Pupil Teacher Ratio in Higher Education in 2019-20 is 26.
As many as 3.38 crore students enrolled in programmes at under-graduate and post-graduate level. Out of these, nearly 85 per cent of the students (2.85 crore) were enrolled in the six major disciplines such as Humanities, Science, Commerce, Engineering and Technology, Medical Science and IT & Computer.
According to the report, the number of students pursuing PhD in 2019-20 is 2.03 lakh against 1.17 lakh in 2014-15. The total Number of Teachers stands at 15,03,156 comprising of 57.5 per cent male and 42.5 per cent female.
