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Study reveals socially oppressed students are still to get access to higher education

An analysis of the state of affairs in just the four southern States and Puducherry—which, put together, are reputed to have the best higher education apparatus in the entire country—is stark proof that students from socially oppressed com munities such as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and women are yet to plug in to the country’s exploding education market.

If statistics could tell a story, then the Annual Report on Higher Education, 2006-07, brought out by the Union Ministry of Human Resources Development, is a grim tale by all accounts.

And this, when the University Grants Commission has categorically stated that funding is not a constraint. The University Grants Commission allocated a general plan budget of Rs. 1,269.80 crore in 2006-07 for higher education under five sectors of the X Plan, such as general development of colleges and universities, enhancing access and equity, promotion of relevant education, promotion of quality and excellence and strengthening research. The non-plan budget for the period was Rs. 1460.70 crore. At present, the country has 369 universities, including 222 state universities, 20 central universities and 109 deemed universities. In addition, there are 18,064 colleges, including 1,902 women’s colleges.

The gender barrier has been unshaken. At the beginning of the academic year, the total number of students enrolled in universities was 110.28 lakh: 14.27 lakh in university departments and 96.01 lakh in affiliated colleges. The enrolment of women was 44.66 lakh, about 40.4 per cent of the total enrolments. \Out of the total enrolment of women, only 12.35 per cent were admitted to professional courses.

Enrolment of women as a percentage of total enrolment in a State was highest in Kerala (66 per cent) and the lowest in Bihar (24.52 per cent). This becomes more evident when it comes to SC/ST enrolments, though the UGC financially supports universities in establishing Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe Cells.

So far, 123 such cells have been established and a total grant of Rs. 24.65 lakh has been released to the cells till February this year.

A remedial coaching scheme has also been introduced at the UG/PG level for SC/ST students in 552 universities and colleges. During 2006-07, a total grant of Rs. 15.82 crore was released till February this year.

The figures, however, negate all the efforts. All four States saw a steep fall in enrolments as students moved up from primary education to university/college levels.

While 76,92,411 students had enrolled for primary education in Andhra Pradesh during 2004-05, the numbers fell to 36,43,030 in middle school, 31,60,049 in secondary/higher secondary schools and 10,56,719 in universities and colleges.

The figures for Karnataka were 58,83,907 in primary education, 29,46,302 in middle schools, 21,39,240 in secondary and higher secondary schools and 7,06,241 in higher education. Kerala had 25,43,422 students in primary schools, 16,28,030 students in middle school, 13,80,950 in secondary and higher secondary and 3,13,144 in universities ad colleges. For Tamil Nadu, the figures stood at 64,03,416 in primary education, 36,97,858 in middle schools, and 29,52,354 in secondary and higher secondary schools.

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