Higher Education GER for Female in 2019-20 remains higher than Male GER

The university GER for women overtook the male GER for the first time in 2018/19. The trend continued in 2019-20 with the GER female cross of 27%. Three states / UTs reported a GER greater than 50%, while Bihar is on the low end with a GER close to half the national average.

Access to higher education is measured using Gross Enrollment Rate (GER), a statistical measure used in education to indicate the educational level of a given age group. It is calculated from the ratio of people enrolled at universities to the total population of people aged between 18 and 23. A high GER indicates high university participation by age group.

In this story, we will look at Gross Enrollment Rate (GER) trends for the past 5 years by state, gender, and social category. The AISHE survey includes all universities in the country that are registered with the AISHE code on the AISHE portal. The data are based on the template submitted by these institutions in a predefined survey form.

India’s GER has steadily increased, led by the significant increase in ‘female GER’

Access to higher education has increased over the years from 21.5% in 2012-13 to 27.1% in 2019-20, according to the All India Survey on Higher Education Survey (AISHE). The GER for the male population increased from 22.7% (2012-13) to 26.9% (2019-20) and for the female population from 20.1% (2012-12) to 27.3% (2019 -20) improved. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 aims to increase the total CEFR (including vocational training) to 50% by 2035.

The main highlights from the current AISHE 2019-20 report on enrollment are:

• In terms of total enrollment (in absolute terms), total enrollment in higher education is estimated at 38.5 million, of which 19.6 million are men and 18.9 million women. 49% of the total enrollment are women. Scheduled Caste (SC) students make up 14.7% and Scheduled Tribe (ST) students 5.6% of the total enrollment. 37% of the students belong to the Other Backward Classes (OBC). Approximately 5.5% of the students belong to a Muslim minority and 2.3% from other minority communities. Uttar Pradesh is number one with the highest enrollments, followed by Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu (in absolute terms).
• The Gross Enrollment Rate (GER) in higher education in India is 27.1%, which is calculated for the 18-23 age group. The GER for the male population is 26.9% and for women 27.3%. For Planned Boxes it is 23.4% and for Planned Strains 18% compared to the national GER of 27.1%.

GER highest in Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and lowest in Bihar

The highest GER is reported by Sikkim with 75.8%. The GER for the other states falls to and below 50%. Sikkim is followed by Chandigarh (52.1%), Tamil Nadu (51.4%) and Delhi (48%). The lowest GER was found for UTs like Daman & Diu (6.1%), Lakshadweep (7.5%), Ladakh (7.9%) and the states of Bihar (14.5%) and Assam (17.3%) reported. In other words, only 3 states / UTs are above the CEFR target of 50% set in the NEP 2020.

States like Uttarakhand, Kerala, Manipur, Telangana, Arunachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, J&K, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Haryana, and Punjab have reported GERs that are above the national average (27.1%).

States like Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Tripura, Jharkhand, Gujarat, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and others have reported GERs that are below the national average (27.1%). Among the large states, Bihar has the lowest GER at 14.5%, which is almost half the national average.

GER among women shows a greater increase in all social categories

In the last 5 years the total GER has increased from 24.5% to 27.1%. Male GER recorded a nominal increase from 25.4% (2015-16) to 26.9% (2019-20). However, female GER saw a relatively significant increase from 23.5% (2015-16) to 27.3% (2019-20).

In the Scheduled Category (SC), the overall GER has increased from 19.9% ​​to 23.4% in the last 5 years. Male GER among SCs saw a nominal increase from 20.8% (2015-16) to 22.8% (2019-20). However, female GER saw a relatively significant increase from 19% (2015-16) to 24.1% (2019-20).

In the Scheduled Tribe (ST) category, the overall GER has increased from 14.2% to 18% over the last 5 years. Male GER among STs saw an increase from 15.6% (2015-16) to 18.2% (2019-20) and female GER also saw a significant increase from 12.9% (2015-16) to 17.7% (2019-20).

Male and female GER in STs remain low compared to other social categories

GER among social categories in major states shows that the enrollment rate for the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe categories is lower than the overall enrollment rate for the state in most cases.

However, there are some exceptions to this trend in the large states. In Uttar Pradesh, for example, the GER among the STs has remained higher than the GER of the state over the past 5 years. This is due to the meager population of STs in the state (less than 1%). At the same time, the GER among the SCs in the state has remained lower than the GER for the state. Likewise, in Gujarat, the GER among the SCs has remained higher than the GER for the state for the past 5 years, and at the same time the GER among the STs has remained lower than the GER for the state. STs make up about 15% of Gujarat’s population.

A gender breakdown of GER also suggests a similar pattern. Male and female GER among social categories in major states shows that the enrollment rate for the caste and tribal categories is lower than the overall enrollment rate for the state in most cases. Female GER among STs has one of the lowest school enrollment rates compared to other groups in most states.

However, as mentioned earlier, there are a few exceptions to this trend. For example, in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the GER for men and women for STs has remained higher than the GER for the state. STs make up only about 1% of the population in both states, and therefore their GER is above the national average. In most other states, STs related to GER stay at the bottom of the table. In other words, GER in SCs & STs is only higher than the national average where their percentage of the population is very low.

These patterns suggest that while female GER among STs has seen a significant increase over the years (as discussed in the sections above), it still lags well behind other social and gender categories.

Selected image: Total India Higher Education Survey Survey

source https://collegeeducationnewsllc.com/higher-education-ger-for-female-in-2019-20-remains-higher-than-male-ger/