JOIN USThe gross enrollment ratio (GER) of students in higher education continues to grow at a slow pace even though the country witnessed an increase in the number of universities from 723 in 2013-14 to 903 in 2017-18.
According to a latest, All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) report released on Friday, the total enrolment in country's universities and colleges has been estimated to be 3.66 crore in 2017-18 with 1.92 crore men and 1.74 crore women.
The report pegged the GER in higher education in India at 25.8%. The GER of men in higher education came at 26.3% while it reached 25.4% for the women.
The increase in the GER for 2017-18 over that of 2016-17 remained at just 0.6%.
The annual survey, conducted under the aegis of the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry, had recorded the GER at 25.2% in 2016-17. The GER of men in 2016-17 was pegged at 26% while it was estimated to be 24.5% for the women students.
The GER in higher education is calculated for 18-23 years of age group.
Though the Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry is hoping to increase the GER in higher education to at least 30% by 2022, the country has witnessed an increase in the GER by just 1.5% since 2017-18. The GER in 2014-15 was estimated to be at 24.3%.
According to the AISHE report released by the HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar at an event here, the number of colleges in the country came down to 39,050 in 2017-18 from 40,026 in 2016-17.
The number of standalone institutions in the country also came down to 10,011 in 2017-18 from 11,669 in 2016-17.
The report, however, remained silent on the fall in the number of colleges and stand-alone institutions in the country.
In 2017-18, the number of PhD holders slightly grew up compared to that of the previous academic year with an increase in the number of colleges offering PhD programmes. As many as 34,400 students were awarded PhD during 2017. In 2016-17, a total of 28,779 students were awarded PhD.
While just 2.6% of 40,026 colleges offered PhD programme in 2016-17, the academic year of 2017-18 saw 3.6% of 39,050 colleges offering PhD programmes.
Karnataka remained in the list of top eight states in terms of having the highest number of colleges in the country. In the list of top eight, Karnataka grabbed the third position with 3,593 colleges. Uttar Pradesh Pradesh remained at the top with 6,922 colleges, followed by Maharashtra with 4,314 colleges functioning in the state.