It's good news for both the employers and the employees. More and more students are now applying for higher education in the country. There has been a sharp increase in the national Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education.

The statistics have gone up from 12.5% in 2007-8 to 17.27% in 2009-10, as computed by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

The figures are quite heartening as it means that we will now have more skilled personnel for our industries and that our education policies are working in the right direction.

There have been concerns about applicants not being industry-ready. So the employers still need to be cautious about this good news. To address this very concern, the government has put forth Higher Education and Research Bill, 2011 in Rajya Sabha.

Significance of GER in Higher Education

Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education takes into account school graduates opting for college-level graduates who are in the range of 18 to 23 years. The increase in GER is also significant because it has exceeded government expectations that had targeted to achieve 16% GER by the end of the 11th Plan or by March 2012.

For private educational institutes too, the increase in GER is good news as it means that they have better opportunities to earn higher revenues. The UGC officials predict that if the latest data could be analyzed, we could be close to 20% GER at present, which might increase to 25% by the end of the 12th Plan (which will end in 2017). Read more

The Real-World Scenario

There are limitations to the number of students higher education institutes can really absorb. According to a two-year old data by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), the country is facing an acute crisis in filling up teacher vacancies, which is estimated to be as high as 30-33%.

Besides, the increase has been registered at the national-level. The situation at state-level can be quite different. According to a recent study by Ernst and Young and the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Delhi presented an impressive picture with a GER of 31.9% in 2009-10. Maharashtra too had a GER of 25.9% but Tripura had a GER of merely 6.6%. Assam did only slightly better with a GER of 6.7%.

According to UGC data, we now have 32,324 higher education institutes. 611 of them are degree-awarding institutions. While this means that access to higher education has increased for students, it does not necessarily mean that quality of their graduates have increased too. This is why, many of these institutes are finding it difficult to fill up all their seats and even face closure.

In fact, many industries are facing severe talent crunch as they are struggling with 16-20% attrition and are not getting employees with right skill set to fill up the vacancies.

Higher Education and Research Bill, 2011 proposed in Rajya Sabha

The Higher Education and Research Bill, 2011 that the government has recently presented in the Rajya Sabha seeks to scrap the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) and replace with them one common regulatory body called National Commission on Higher Education and Research (NCHER), which will overlook university education as well as vocational, technical, professional and medical education in India. Read more

NCHER will ensure comprehensive and integrated growth of higher education and research in India and bring it at par with the established standards of educational and research practices at the global level. However, it will not deal with issues related to agricultural education and minimum standards in medical education. To deal with the latter, formation of the National Commission on Human Resources in Health (NCHRH) has been proposed.

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