New Delhi: The performance of five southern states Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka in higher education is impressive and beats the national average with a wide margin. The five southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka accounts for nearly one-third (30%) of the total enrolments across India, with 19.3% of the country share of 18-23 population, revealed by CII- Annual Status of Higher Education of States and UTs in India (ASHE) Report 2016.
Total enrolment of students in higher education institutes in India is around 342.1 lakhs, with 54% male and 46% female enrolments in 2015. CII-ASHE Report 2016 found that the Gross Enrolments Ratio (GER) in Higher Education in India stands at 24.3% in 2015. The GER of these five southern states beats the national average with a wide margin: Tamil Nadu (45.2%), Telangana (36.1%), Andhra Pradesh (31.2%), Kerala (28.7%) and Karnataka (26.4%).
In absolute numbers, Uttar Pradesh has highest enrolled students in higher education. With a huge share of the 18-23 population (11.6% share of 18- 23 population in India), Uttar Pradesh ranked first in terms of total enrolment (60.6 lakhs, 17.7%) followed by Maharashtra (37.4 lakhs, 10.9%), Tamil Nadu (33.5 lakhs, 9.8%), West Bengal (19 lakhs, 5.6%) and Karnataka (18.9 lakhs, 5.5%).
Digging further on the enrolments at degree levels, the report revealed that the highest share of enrolment (79.4%) is at undergraduate level, followed by post-graduate (11.3%) and Diploma (7.3%), with all other levels forming around 2%.
In the higher education, the enrolment of female students is not encouraging. Significant gender disparity in enrolment is visible in PhD and PG Diploma with females accounting for 40.7% of the total enrolments in PhD and 46.1% of total enrolments in PG Diploma levels. Female enrolment has been highest in MPhil (57.7%), Certificate (56.4%) and post graduate courses (51.5%).
Further on a stream wise enrolment at Undergraduate level, Arts/ Humanities/ Social Science Group subjects account for the largest share 40.2% of total enrolment. Nearly 15.9% of students are enrolled in Engineering & Technology subjects while around 15.4% enrolled in Science subjects. Commerce stream represents 14% in the total enrolled students at graduate levels.
