The percentage of students from the Other Backward Communities who have enrolled in higher education has gone past 27 per cent, but the number of students from the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes continues to be unacceptably low, an official survey has revealed.
Indicating an impressive increase in the Gross Enrolment Ratio from 15 per cent in 2009-10 to 18.8 per cent in 2010-11, the survey shows that the enrolment of women has increased substantially from 12.7 per cent to 16.5 per cent during this period, as against that of men, where the increase has been from 17.1 per cent to 20.9 per cent. This, even as only 1 per cent of the universities and 9 per cent of the colleges are meant exclusively for girls.
Of the students in higher educational institutions, OBC students comprise 27.1 per cent, with 27.3 per cent being male and 26.8 per cent being female. However, the Scheduled Castes comprise only 10.2 per cent of the enrolment, with 10.3 per cent male and 10.1 female, while the Scheduled Tribe enrolment is extremely low at 4.4 per cent, with males and females almost on a par, according to an All India Survey on Higher Education, conducted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
“Higher enrolment indicates growing interest in higher education in India. The figures show that India has the highest number of students in colleges after the United States,” Mr. Sibal said, after releasing a first-of-its-kind survey.
There is reservation for all these categories in higher educational institutions. Twenty seven per cent seats are reserved for OBC students, 15 per cent for the Scheduled Castes, and 7.5 per cent for the Scheduled Tribes. However, quotas are applicable only in Central educational institutions. The data on these categories is based primarily on the reservations in publicly-funded institutions, as well as voluntary disclosures.
The initial survey released by Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal here on Friday was based on information collected from 448 universities, 8,123 colleges, and 4,076 standalone institutions, until July 31. It is a voluntary exercise, and will help in gathering relevant statistics on higher education on various parameters.
The survey has also suggested that while the number of private unaided colleges accounts for a major share of the total number of colleges (57 per cent), the enrolment in such colleges is only 38 per cent of the total enrolment. The number of students per college under private unaided is the lowest, with just 529. Among the responding colleges, approximately 57 per cent are under private management, and 22 per cent come under the government sector. As far as standalone institutions are concerned, 64 per cent of the responding institutions come under private management.
Thirty-six per cent of the responding universities, 48 per cent colleges, and 56 per cent standalone institutions are located in rural areas. Of the 621 universities (though only 448 uploaded the details) 59 are in Tamil Nadu, 56 in Uttar Pradesh, and 46 in Andhra Pradesh. Though there are 27,468 colleges, only 8,123 participated, of which 4,815 are in Andhra Pradesh, 3,657 in Uttar Pradesh, and 3,328 in Maharashtra. There are 4,118 standalone technical institutions, of which 1,243 are in Maharashtra, while the highest number — 129 — standalone nursing colleges are in Kerala. There are only 308 nursing colleges in the country.
