Gujarat Has Highest Reduction In Women Enrolment In Higher Education

 

Highlights * Marginal increase in women enrolments. * Bihar sees highest increase in women enrolments. * Kerala also sees high dropout rates.

Women constitute 48% of Indian population as per 2011 census but make up only 6 million of the 14 million students (42%) enrolled in higher education. IndiaSpend’s Sourjya Bhowmick  looks at 5-year data released by the Ministry of Higher Education in its latest Annual Report 2011-12 and finds that the percentage of women enrolment has risen only marginally (1%) to 41.5% in 2010-11 from 40.55% in 2006-07. And yet, 7 states - Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, J&K, Kerala, Punjab and Uttarakhand – have seen a drop in women enrolment in higher education. Gujarat leads the list here, in proportionate terms. Women enrolments are up in absolute terms over the last five years from 312,081 to 358,353 but down as a percentage to overall enrolment. Interestingly, Bihar has the best percentage increase in women enrolment in higher education

. The Central Government has initiated several programmes like the Indira Gandhi scholarship for single girls (Rs 200 per month for two years and Rs 9 crore disbursed in 2011-12) to guarantee education for women. Table 1 gives an idea of women enrolment in higher education in India and the ranking of the states:  Table 1: Bihar – A Surprise Gainer

2006-2007			2010-2011
States	Women enrolment	% of women	Women enrolment	%of women	% increase
Bihar	150,114	24.5	215,748	31	6.5
Himachal Pradesh	48,240	44	66,114	49.5	5.5
Orissa	146,710	36	209,454	41	5
Rajasthan	146,783	34	298,750	38	4
Haryana	121,333	41	201,844	45	4
Jharkhand*	71,046	31	91,825	33.5	2.5
Maharashtra	659,231	41.5	858,313	44	2.5

*Jharkhand has a better % increase than Maharashtra due to rounding off. (Source: Ministry of Human Resources & Development) Bihar, Orissa, Rajasthan, Haryana and Jharkhand are considered backward states when it comes to social indicators. However, these are the states that have considerably improved their women enrolment. Now let us take a look at the states which have seen a decline in enrolments:

Table 2: Gujarat Leads Reduction In Enrolment                                         

2006-2007			2010-2011
States	Women enrolment	% of women	Women enrolment	% of women	% decline
Gujarat	312,081	44.5	358,353	40	4.5
Kerala	211,914	61	229,494	56.8	4.2
Delhi	107,310	49	129,628	46.5	2.5
Punjab	160,633	52	234,176	50	2.0
Andhra Pradesh	387,124	40.3	718,894	38.9	1.4
Uttarakhand	62,106	42.5	121,563	41.3	1.2

(Source: Ministry of Human Resources & Development)