The Right to Education Act in India has definitely been a milestone for education in the country. This is exemplified by the fact that the numbers for enrolment in schools in India have gone up significantly in the period that has followed since the act came into being. This does not hold true for higher education though, where the numbers that describe enrolment are best described as passively abysmal. In fact, this is possibly the greatest reason behind the completely poor level of literacy and proficiency in various skills in the country. The Human Resource Development Ministry however, has recently pot out some news that is cause for hope in a country that is desperately wondering what to do about its failing education system.
The Survey
A press release that was put out by the HRD Ministry had several details about the enrolment of students in educational pursuits across India. The main number that was of interest to everyone was the Gross Enrolment Ratio (or GER), as measured for higher education, which has gone up to a rate of 24.5% in the previous academic session. About ten years back the GER for higher education was only a disappointing 10%. The fact that it has more than doubled in a period that is so recent is definitely a sign of positive tidings, according to the HRD Ministry.
The GER is defined as being the percentage of total enrolment in higher education institutions, all considering the population between the age group of 18 and 23 years. To go along with this release to the press the ministry also reaffirmed their resolve towards the improvement of the standards of education across the board in India. Towards this end, the HRD Ministry has moved to open several new and up to date institutions whose goal is the proliferation of education to those who have scarce access to it in the country.
This is not the only thing that the government is working on however in this space. In fact, they have provided several subsidies, scholarships and specialized loans for students who wish to pursue higher educational studies and learning. This is definitely a positive and forward thinking move by the ruling government as it shows that they do indeed care for the cause of education, and may finally understand its true importance to the future of the country. They are even catalysing institutions across India to bring in more technology to their curriculum and their teaching methods so as to provide a learning experience which is greatly in tune with global standards and practices.
A National Institute Ranking Framework (or NIRF) has been instituted by the government in the year 2015 with the aim to boost the quality and availability of higher education in India. The NIRF is in fact expected to release a fresh list of their rankings in April of this year. This is indeed something that the education fraternity in the country has come to be quite interested in as it provides a birds-eye view of the higher education institutions in the country as well as how they stack up next to each other. The ranking is done across several verticals and criteria and is definitely of great importance to the country.