Tamil Nadu tops to become India’s only state to record highest education enrollment

New Delhi, January 7: Education has always been the topmost strength of South India. In 2017, Tamil Nadu has emerged as the leader in terms of Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education. Tamil Nadu has also done very well in terms of male and female GER figures, as also the GER figures for the Scheduled Castes. 

The All India Survey on Higher Education report (2106-2017), was released by Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar which saw the State lead with a GER of 46.9%. Among Union Territories, Chandigarh recorded 56.1%.

Bihar, Assam, West Bengal and Odisha posted low GERs of 14.4%, 17.2%, 18.5% and 21% respectively. Uttar Pradesh fared marginally better at 24.9%, close to the national average.

GER for higher education is calculated with reference to the age group 18-23. It is the total enrolment in higher education, irrespective of age, expressed as a percentage to the eligible official population (18-23 years) in a given school year.

With a female GER of 45.6% and in terms of male GER, Tamil Nadu at 48.2% tops the list of all States and Union Territories, followed by the UTs of Chandigarh and Delhi. At 38%, it also has the highest GER for Scheduled Castes among all major states of India.

Releasing the report HRD Minister Javadekar said that the all-India GER had grown from 23% in 2014 to 25.2% now, and the government hoped to achieve a GER of 30% by 2022.