Bhubaneswar: When higher education is passport for taking up any job in the country and elswhere, the gross enrolment ratio in the country seems very abysmal at 28.3%.
At least 7 in every 10 in the country, currently, are out of the loop of higher education.
The scenario in State of Odisha seems worse.
Here the GER stands at mere 23.5% - nearly 8 out of every 10 in the age-group of 18-23 years are, now, out of the higher education system. This ratio shows how a majority of job-seeking population in the State are ineligible to compete for an organised sector jobs.
In this backdrop, a NITI Aayog working paper titled “Establishing New Universities in India” has revealed BIG.
SKEWED SKETCH
The Niti paper authored by Arunava Dey and Dr Shashank Singh has brought to fore the shockers.
- India has 1168 Universities, of which,
- 680 are located in Urban areas, and
- 480 in rural areas
- When 66% population lives in rural areas of the country,
- Only 41% universities are located in their geographic proximity.
- Though urban areas have 34% population,
- 59% universities cater to the small populace.
UNIVERSITIES NOT NEEDED IN RURAL INDIA?
A glance at the working paper shows that when it comes to number of colleges in the country, 60% are located in the rural areas; compared to 40% in urban areas.
The above proportions show there is high demand for higher education in rural areas, for which more colleges have come up there.
But less proportion of universities in rural areas shows how the country’s rural youth in the age-group of 18 – 23 years stands deprived of their basic rights – access to higher education.
NOT IN COUNTRY’S UNIVERSITY MAP
As per the Working Paper,
- 380 districts with at least 50 colleges in country but they don’t have a single university.
- 116 districts in the remote regions – J&K, North-eastern states, UTs like A&N Islands etc – have ZERO universities.
- 23 districts in the above mentioned regions have no colleges.
- There are 112 Aspirational districts in the country, of which,
- 74 districts have NIL universities; whereas
- 43 have atleast 1 university.
- Overall, 3 UTs in India do not have any universities, namely the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, and Lakshadweep.
- See the map below.
ODISHA SCENARIO
The State has 37 universities, reports AISHE 2022 data, which further shows the following.
- Central University – 1
- State govt University – 19
- Institutes of National Importance – 5
- State Open University -1
- State Private University – 8
- Deemed University – 3
AS per the NITI Aayog Working Paper, of the 74 Aspirational districts that have no universities, 4 such districts from the State figure in the list. The districts are:
- Kandhamal
- Malkangiri
- Nabarangpur
- Nuapada
And among the 38 other Aspirational districts that have one university, 4 belong to Odisha. They are:
- Bolangir
- Gajapati
- Kalahandi
- Koraput
- Rayagada
The Niti Aayog Working Paper has identified the following districts in the State for setting up new universities, under its regional level recommendations: (see the table below)
POOR PERFORMING STATES
The Niti paper has awarded composite scores to find out the top performing states. The ranking done by the Niti working paper shows Odisha languishing in the poor 15, among 36 States/UTs. (See the table below)
