Staff Reporter
Guwahati: An analysis of the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in the state by the Education department in April led to the significant finding that the GER in higher education is significantly poor. Concerned at the finding, the department asked the district education officials to analyse the scenario and work accordingly to improve GER at par with the national average.
It was found that the GER in the Higher Secondary category is significantly poor in Assam.
The GER in higher education is calculated by dividing the number of enrolled students by the population aged 18-23, then multiplying by 100. National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 aims for a 50% GER by 2030.
Though the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) at the elementary level in schools in the state is higher than the national average, the GER for secondary, senior secondary, and higher education remains below the national average.
According to the All India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE), 2021–22, the GER in Assam is 17.5%, against the national GER of 27.3%.
At that time, Education Minister Ranoj Pegu attributed the low GER not to enrolment rates but primarily due to incomplete data submission to the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE). He then advised that timely submission of data should be made. To ensure accurate and timely data submission to AISHE, several workshops were organized for government and private higher education institutes.
As per NEP 2020, the GER in higher education should be brought to at least 50% so that India appears among the top five countries with a high GER in higher education. Following this, the Assam government is also targeting a similar GER in higher education.
It needs to be mentioned that Assam trails by about 9.8 percentage points behind the national average. Despite efforts like launching postgraduate programmes and new universities, GER hasn’t budged significantly, and it is found to be hovering between 17 to 18 per cent.
As per NEP 2020 projections, Assam would likely need to reach around 35–40% GER by 2030 and then progress to 50% by 2035, which is a very steep task.
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