Adviser (higher education) in the plan panel Pawan Agarwal said, in absolute term the enrolment is at around 20 million, and this could further rise if enrolment in distance education is taken into account.
"You would be surprised to know currently India has gross enrolment ratio of around 20 per cent going by international comparisons where we take in age group of 18 to 22 years a five year cohort. Earlier six year cohort was taken which was not internationally competitive," he said at a function here.
GER in higher education was so far assumed to be at around 15 to 17 per cent. The government has emphasised on significant investment during the 12th plan period for new universities and colleges and augmentation of infrastructure to take the GER to 30 per cent during the next ten years.
Addressing the India Education Congress here, Agarwal, however, noted that the country had still a long way to go if compared to advanced countries who boast of a GER in the range of 60 to 80 per cent.
Stating that there are still areas and communities unserved by education, Agarwal emphasised on rejuvenating higher education through flagship schemes and giving enough focus on state level colleges and universities.
