All India Higher Education Survey

All India Higher Education Survey

• According to the most recent All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE), significant progress made in bridging the gender gap across several undergraduate programs suffered a setback in the current year.
• The poll also found that enrollment in distant education programs increased by 7% in 2020–21, the year the Covid–19 epidemic started.

The major highlight of the survey:

• From 3.85 crores in 2019–20, the total number of students enrolled in higher education has climbed to over 4.14 crores in 2020–21.
• The number of students enrolled has increased by almost 72 lahks (21%) from 2014–15.
• From 1.88 crores in 2019–20, there are now 2.01 crores of enrolled females. Since 2014–15, there has been a growth of almost 44 lakh (28%).
• Female enrollment as a share of total enrollment climbed from 45% in 2014–15 to roughly 49% in 2020–21.
• In all Bachelor's programs combined, there were fewer women enrolled than men in the 2020–21 academic year.
• The gender parity index, or GPI, which measures the proportion of female to male GER, rose from 1 in 2017–18 to 1.05 in 2020–21.
• People with Disabilities students made up 79,035 fewer students in 2020–21 than they did in 2019–20.
• From 5.5% in 2019–20, 4.6% of Muslim students were enrolled in higher education in 2020–21.
• The top 6 States by enrollment are Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, and Rajasthan.
• Women's involvement in undergraduate program has significantly decreased, especially in fields like nursing and teaching where there have historically been more female students.
• Undergraduate programs in fields like computer science, business administration, pharmacy, technology, and law, which have historically favoured men, continue to have a sizable gender disparity.
• Universities and colleges: From 2020 to 21 there will be 70 more universities, and there will be 1,453 more colleges.
• In 2020–21, enrollments at 21.4% of government institutions made up 34.5% of the total; the remaining 65.5% of enrollments were at private aided colleges and private unaided colleges combined.

Issues that are now affecting India's higher education system:

Gender Disparity:

• The educational system has grown unevenly and insufficiently.
• The educational standing of boys and girls differs by gender.
• Girls still don't have as many possibilities to pursue higher education due to cultural, societal, and economic constraints.
• The girl kid is forced to do domestic and agricultural work in rural areas.
• This is only one of the many barriers that prevent girls from pursuing higher education.
• Other barriers to girls' education include their physical safety, particularly when they have to travel far to school, and their dread of sexual harassment.

Inadequate Infrastructure:

• India's higher education has additional obstacles due to insufficient infrastructure.
• Both public and private universities in India lack the necessary infrastructure because of the budget imbalance, corruption, and entrenched interest group lobbying.

Regulatory Challenges:

• The management of Indian higher education suffers difficulties due to a lack of professionalism, accountability, and transparency.
• The weight of administrative tasks at universities has greatly increased as a result of the rise in the number of connected institutions and students, diluting the primary emphasis on learning and research.

Programs and Policies:

• National Education Policy (NEP) Implementation: The NEP's implementation can jolt the education system out of its slumber.
• The transition from the present 10+2 system to a 5+3+3+4 system will formally include children in the pre-school age group in the educational system.
• Employment-Education Corridor: In order to ensure that students are led in the right direction from the beginning and are aware of career opportunities, India's educational system needs to be improved by integrating vocational learning with mainstream education and providing the right mentorship at school (especially in government schools).
• The Indian Constitution's Preamble, Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Duties, and Directive Principles all explicitly state the importance of gender equality.
• In addition to guaranteeing women's equality, the Constitution gives the State the authority to implement measures that positively discriminate in favor of women.
• By offering incentives for women to pursue higher education, the Indian government has stepped up its attempts to reduce gender inequity.
• Some of these programs include Gender Advancement for Transforming Institutions (GATI), a pilot project under the Department of Science and Technology to promote gender equity in science and technology, and Knowledge Involvement in Research Advancement through Nurturing (KIRAN), another program under the Department of Science and Technology to support women scientists in science and technology as well as prevent women scientists from quitting research due to familial obligations.

Way forward

• It is time to concentrate on increasing female enrollment in higher education institutions.
• Social media can also be used to highlight the contributions of women in science, which can inspire young girls to make confident career decisions.