Higher Education: Female enrolment highest in Chandigarh, but downward trend in last three years worrying

The Gross Enrolment Ratio or GER of women in higher education in the city might be the highest in India once again at 67.7 per cent, but has recorded a downward trend in the last three years.

According to the All India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE) 2017-18 released by Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar, the overall GER of the city recorded at 56.4 per cent is also the highest in India. It is a marginal improvement from 56.1 per cent in 2016-17 despite that fact that Chandigarh has only 8 per cent private-unaided colleges, one of the lowest in India.

In Chandigarh, three universities and 25 colleges were part of the survey. The city’s total student strength stands at 1,05,829, with average enrolment per college at 2,052.

However, for women, the GER has recorded a dip of at least 1.1 percentage point from 2016-17. The GER was 68.8 per cent, according to the 2016-17 AISHE report.

In 2016-17, the same figure registered a drop of 1.6 percentage point, compared to 70.4 per cent in 2015-16. The GER is calculated between 18 and 23 years.

At least five out of 11 city colleges are exclusively for women, and yet the GER has recorded a marginal downward trend in the last three years. The same trend was upward from 2010-11 to 2015-16.

The report also stated that the overall GER of the country has increased from 25.2 per cent in 2016-17 to 25.8 per cent in 2017-18. In GER, Chandigarh is followed by Tamil Nadu at 48.6 per cent and Delhi at 46.3 per cent.

Bihar has taken another hit as it stands with the lowest GER at 13 per cent among all the states while it was 14.9 per cent in 2016-17. Among the UTs, the lowest GER is of Daman and Diu at 5.2 per cent.

In 2017-18, the total enrolment in higher education has been estimated to be 36.6 million with 19.2 million boys and 17.4 million girls. Girls make up 47.6 per cent of the total enrolment. The GER for males is 26.3 per cent and for females, it is 25.4 per cent.

Other states and UTs with more than 30 per cent GER for females are Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Manipur, Punjab, Sikkim, Haryana, Telangana and Uttarakhand.
News Source (Indian Express)