Centre aims to increase enrollment ratio in higher education to 15

NEW DELHI: After focusing on educationally backward districts to improve access to higher education, the human resource development ministry is now focusing on marginal districts.

These districts currently have a gross enrollment ratio of between 12.5 and 15, that is, for every 100 students who complete schooling only 12.5 to 15 of them move on to pursue higher education . The government’s aim is to increase gross enrollment ratio to 15 from the current rate of 12.5 by the end of the Eleventh Five Year Plan.

It is felt that investment in these districts will address an existent need, stem the need for students to move to other areas to pursue higher education.

It also addresses the need to improve quality of existing institutions. The ministry has already got clearance from the Expenditure Finance Committee to assist 83 colleges (which includes engineering colleges) and eight universities in the remaining period of the current five year plan.

The proposal will now be place before the Cabinet for approval. The assistance would be to improve the condition of these colleges and universities as well as increasing their academic offering. In another effort to improve the quality of higher education in the country, the ministry has asked the UGC to provide a one-time grant to all those colleges that currently do not qualify for grants.

This one time payment will help these institutions in meeting the basic eligibility criteria for receiving grants from the UGC. This effort is already underway. The ministry had earlier pushed for setting up colleges in areas that had a enrollment ratio well below the national average.

The focus on increasing and improving access to higher education is pushed in some measure by the increase in enrollment at the elementary school level and the rollout of the plans to universalise secondary education.