The incredible progress women made in the higher education sector is revealed by the Report of All India Study of Higher Education (AISHE) 2018-19. The estimated Gross Enrollment Ratio(GER) in higher education in India is 26.3 per cent, which is calculated for the age group of 18 to 23. The GER for male population at all India level is 26.3 percent whereas for women it stands at 26.4 per cent.
The progress is better in Scheduled Caste category. The GER for male SC students is 22.7 per cent where as for female SC students it is 23.3 percent. The GER of women in higher education in India is more than their male counterpart is witnessed for the first time in India.
In 2011-12, the GER for all categories stood at 20.8 per cent, for male it is 22.1 per cent and for female it is 19.4 per cent respectively. In SC category male GER is 15.9 per cent where as female GER is 13.9 percent.
Within a period of eight years, thanks to thee efforts of the Government, the female GER not only equaled but surpassed their male counterparts.
The Gender Parity Index (GPI) for all categories is 90 for 100 male students, in SC category also 90 for 100 male students and 80 for 100 male students in ST category in 2011-12. They are leveled now in 2018-19, 100 for 100 male students in all categories, 102 for 100 male students in SC category and 92 students for 100 in ST category.
It is a great achievement everyone should recognize and appreciate the efforts of the policymakers who are the force behind this. The picture looks rosy but the figures are far behind the international performance. Of course, at the international level, the age group taken into consideration for calculation of GER is 18 to 22 where as in India it is 18 to 23 age group taken into consideration.
Now let us analyse the position of Odisha in the GER in higher education. We are below the national average in all categories. The overall GER which stood at 16.6 percent in 2011-12 increased to 22.1 in 2018-19. The GER for male students increased from 18.3 percent to 24.2 percent and the GER for female students jumped from 15 percent to 20 percent during the period.
All the figures are below the national average. The difference between male and female is around 4.2 percent which reflects the sorry state of women in higher education in the State. Again, if the single digit GER levels of the backward districts is taken into consideration, it is very much disappointing.
In the SC category also the difference between the male and female GER stands at 5.5 percent and there is 3 percent difference between ST boys and girls in 2018-19. The consolation is that the GER of SC and ST category of students doubled during the period from 2011 to 2018, which is an indication of the successful achievement of the various Five Year plans to attain equity in higher education. There must be mentorship at the secondary and higher secondary level who can identify the talents and encourage the girl students to pursue higher education.
In one of my career counselling classes in a Government higher secondary school, a class 12 girl told me that she wanted to pursue further studies, but her family was not capable affording further education.
She asked, if she could avail bank loan for her higher education. She never heard about educational loans are provided by banks for further studies. The scenario is same in most of the backward districts of the State. It is again the responsibility of the teacher to act as a counsellor, mentor and advisor to provide the students right information and lead them in the right way. Why our girls are not making higher education their choice is a million-dollar question now.
Why they are curtailing their prospects early and settling with minimum education? The Government is introducing so many schemes and schlorships for the girls' education but the result is not encouraging.
It is time to think over it and all the stakeholders like the teachers, parents, institutions, local self bodies, social workers and NGOs are to play a crucial role to encourage the girls to pursue higher education to play a key role in the nation building activities.
(Dr Biswal is Head, Department of Commerce, Nowrangpur College, Nabarangpur. Mob: 9437125286, bhaskarnathbiswal@gmail.com)
