Access to Higher Education: Indian Scenario

Indian Higher Education system is one of the largest in the world. It has made a significant contribution not only to the economic development of the country but also to social progress and polity in this democratic state. In spite of considerable expansion even today the total number of students enrolled in higher education is much below the average of developed countries. In the present scenario the globalized era has necessitated the inculcation of competitiveness in the education system. In order to meet the everyday challenges of changing world with demands for advanced knowledge and technologies both quantity and quality should be the focus of higher education. Access, equity, accountability and quality still remain guiding principles, while planning for higher education development in India. This paper tries to find the current status of Higher Education in India. It further tries to analyze the access & growth of Higher Education in terms of Gross Enrolment Ratio & Gender Parity Index. The study revealed that India is having a very low GER (24.3%) as compared to other developed countries. Further it is found that SC (19.1%) & ST (13.7%) have considerably low gross enrolment ratio as compared to all categories (24.3%) taken together. Moreover female were found to have lesser GER in higher education as compared to males in all the three categories taken viz. SC ST & all categories. Moreover the Gender Parity Index scenario in India reveals a GPI of 0.92in India. Therefore India is still far from achieving Gender Parity as GPI (0.92) in India is quite lower than the UNESCO index (0.97–1.03) given for achievement of Gender Parity.