Pradhan stresses need to raise Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education to 50 pc by 2035
EKTA NAGAR, (Gujarat), Jul 10: Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Thursday said it was necessary to raise the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education to 50 per cent by 2035 through definitive actions like redesigning curricula and building digital systems.
He also said that universities will play a key role in realising the goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047.
He was addressing a two-day Vice-Chancellors’ Conference of Central Universities at Ekta Nagar, formerly known as Kevadia, in Narmada district of Gujarat.
The conference, with the participation of more than 50 Vice Chancellors (VCs) of leading higher education institutions, was organised to review, assess, and strategise the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
“It is important to raise the GER in higher education to 50 per cent by 2035 by taking definitive actions in critical areas such as redesigning curricula, building digital systems, training faculty and promoting multidisciplinary approaches,” a government release quoting Pradhan said.
In the last decade, India’s higher education ecosystem has undergone a fundamental transformation, making it flexible, interdisciplinary, inclusive and innovation-driven, he said.
Total student enrolment in higher education has touched 4.46 crore, a 30 per cent rise since 2014-15. The female enrolment has grown by 38 per cent, and the female GER has now exceeded the male GER. The PhD enrolment has almost doubled, and the number of female PhD scholars has grown by 136 per cent, he said.
The GER for Scheduled Tribes (ST) has increased by 10 per cent and for Scheduled Castes (SC) by over 8 per cent, he said.
“This indicates the government’s commitment to inclusive education and social justice,” the Union minister said.
He also mentioned that as a result of positive policy initiatives, 1,200 universities and over 46,000 colleges have been established, making India one of the largest systems globally, he said.
The ‘Panch Sankalpa’ of NEP 2020 would be the guiding principles for the VCs in their university, Pradhan said.
“The Panch Sankalpa or the prominent themes are Next-Gen emerging education, multidisciplinary education, innovative education, holistic education and Bharatiya education,” he said.
The minister called upon the VCs to devise changes to implement the objectives of the academic “triveni sangam” (confluence) through the objectives of celebrating the past (India’s rich heritage), calibrating the present (India’s narrative correction), and creating the future (India’s role in the global order), the release quoted Pradhan as saying.
“This would ensure understanding the past, uncovering the present and unfolding the future in the contemporary framework,” it said.
According to him, the VCs and academic leaders will reaffirm our commitment to collectively transform higher education, set the future course of NEP implementation and shape the future of education during the Chintan Shivir of VCs at the Statue of Unity in Gujarat’s Kevadiya.
“Our universities will play a key role in realising the goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047,” he said.
Pradhan called upon the participants of the meeting to prepare a strategy paper for a full implementation of NEP 2020 in every university.
Dr Vineet Joshi, Secretary of the Higher Education Department, said, “NEP 2020 laid out an ambitious yet achievable vision for India’s higher education system – rooted in accessibility, equity, quality, affordability, and accountability. It reimagines our institutions not as degree-granting bodies, but as ecosystems of innovation, critical thinking, research, and holistic development.” (PTI)
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