New Delhi, Nov 12: Poor funding and lack of quality
and quantity of teachers have affected enrolment of students
in higher education in India, a recent report has said.
In comparison to developing nations like China, Brazil
and Russia, the funding on higher education has been less in
India, according to the Yrnst & Young-EDGE 2008 report on
'Globalising Higher Education in India'.
The low funding has affected the Gross Enrolment Rate
(GER), the percentage of youths in the age group of 18 to 24
years studying in higher educational institutions. The GER is
11 percent in India against an average of 31.5 percent in
Brazil, Russia and China. The GER in developed countries is
71.6 percent.
India spends a meager 0.37 percent of its GDP on higher
education. The spending on higher education by Brazil is 0.91
percent of its GDP followed by Russia (0.67 percent) and
China (0.5 percent), the report said.
The share of higher education in the GDP in developed
countries is much high. Canada spends 1.88 percent of its GDP
on higher education followed by the US (1.41 percent),
Australia (1.19 percent) and the UK (1.07 percent).
India has the lowest expenditure on research and
development also, it said. India plans to spend six per cent
GDP on education sector which is yet to be achieved.
The students-teacher ratio is very high in India. There
is only one teacher per 26 students in India while the ratio
is 13.6 to one in Brazil, 11 to one in Russia and 13.5 to one
in China.
There were 4.72 lakh teachers in higher education in
India in 2005 while the number increased to 4.88 lakh in 2006
and 5.02 lakh last year. There is lack of quality and quantity
of teachers in higher education, the report said.
India has a target to achieve 15 percent GER in higher
education the end of 11th Plan. About 1.1 crore students had
enroled in higher education system in India in 2006. The
number is expected to reach 2.2 crore by 2012 if India
achieves 15 per cent GER.
The GER remains low as there is an imbalance in the
spread of institutions across the country, the report said.
Bureau Report