1. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma expresses concern about the state’s higher education challenges.
2. The gross enrollment ratio (GER) in Assam remains stagnant between 17-18 percent.
3. Despite government investments, the GER shows no significant improvement, prompting the need for further analysis.
Guwahati, Jan 30: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, expressed concern about the state’s higher education challenges, citing that the gross enrollment ratio (GER) has remained stagnant between 17-18 percent. Despite the state government’s investments in the higher education sector, the GER has not shown significant improvement, prompting the need for further analysis.
Sarma emphasized that even with the introduction of postgraduate courses and new universities, the GER has not witnessed a substantial increase. He suggested that the higher education department needs to reevaluate its approach, considering factors such as participation in the enrollment process and potential misconceptions.
While acknowledging fluctuations in GER over the years, reaching an all-time high of 18.7 percent in 2018, Sarma underscored the importance of demystifying the challenges hindering higher enrollment.
He urged the higher education department to address these issues and enhance participation in the enrollment process.
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The Ministry of Education, Government of India, released the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2020-2021, which provides comprehensive data on various parameters, including student enrollment, teacher information, infrastructure, and finances.
The AISHE, conducted in 2011, covers all higher educational institutions in India.
For the first time in AISHE 2020-21, higher education institutions submitted data through an entirely online platform, the Web Data Capture Format (DCF), developed by the Department of Higher Education through the National Informatics Centre (NIC).
The latest survey indicates a notable increase in total enrollment in higher education, reaching nearly 4.14 crore in 2020-21 from 3.85 crore in 2019-20.
This growth of around 72 lakh in enrollment since 2014-15 underscores the ongoing efforts to expand access to higher education across the country.
