Updated on Wednesday, November 12, 2008, 00:00 IST

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