Total enrollment in higher education increased to nearly 4.33 crore in the financial year 2022 from 4.14 crore in FY21 and 3.42 crore in FY15, reflecting a 26.5 percent rise since FY15, according to the Economic Survey 2023-24 tabled in Parliament today by Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.
The survey, referencing the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2021-22, also noted that female enrollment in higher education grew to 2.07 crore in FY22 from 1.57 crore in FY15, a 31.6 percent increase.
The survey highlighted that the rise in higher education enrollment has been driven by underprivileged sections, including SC, ST, and OBC, with female enrollment showing faster growth across these sections.
“The higher education sector, comprising tertiary and post-school learning in universities and other institutions, has witnessed acceleration in total enrollment coupled with rising ‘enrollment equity’ over the past eight years,” stated the official press release by PIB.
The survey further mentioned that India has 26.52 crore students in school, 4.33 crore in higher education, and over 11 crore learners in skilling institutions.
Additionally, India has 14.89 lakh schools, 1.50 lakh secondary schools, 1.42 lakh higher secondary schools, 1,168 universities, 45,473 colleges, 12,002 standalone institutions, 94.8 lakh teachers in school education, and 15.98 lakh teachers in higher education.
This report comes a day before the announcement of the Union Budget 2024 on July 23. During the Interim Budget 2024 speech on February 9, Sitharaman announced plans for establishing more medical colleges and forming a committee to examine this purpose. She also mentioned plans for upgrading Anganwadi centers.
Approximately 1.4 crore youth have been trained under the Skill India Mission, and 3,000 new ITIs have been established. Additionally, several new IITs and IIMs have been set up.
