Maharashtra tops college education, has best institutes

Maharashtra tops college education, has best institutes

Mumbai: Kerala may be the most literate state in the country, but Maharashtra has the highest number of student enrollments in higher education. According to a report on education by professional services firm Ernst & Young, titled ‘Building Blocks - Infrastructure in Education - Edge 2010 Report’, around 15 lakh students were enrolled in the state’s colleges and institutes during 2005-06, the highest in the country, followed by Uttar Pradesh (14 lakh), Andhra Pradesh (9 lakh) and Tamil Nadu (8 lakh).
The reason can be mainly that the state also has the highest number of quality institutes, many of them rated among the best in the country, keeping students from studying elsewhere. Five of Maharashtra’s universities are rated among the best in the country — Mumbai University, Pune University, SNDT Women’s University, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research in Goregoan, and Gokhale Institute ofPolitics and Economy, Pune, while five of its colleges are among the five-star-rated institutions in the country. The state also has about 63 institutions that are rated A+ by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (Naac) which includes Sophia College, MD Shah Mahila College, Symbiosis, and Birla College of Arts and Science.
Maharashtra has the maximum number of universities (11.3%), followed by Tamil Nadu (10%) and Uttar Pradesh (9.2%), while Andhra Pradesh has the most colleges (13.6%), followed by Uttar Pradesh (13%) and Maharashtra (11.4%).
In 2008-09, around 123 lakh students (of which 40% were women) were enrolled in the higher and technical educational institutes in India. Kerala had the highest women enrollment, at 66%, while Bihar had the lowest (24.5%). The report says that the states with low women enrollments require a special focus in areas like provision for women’s hostels, increasing the accessibility of institutes so that women with constraints (such as travel, need to be close to family) can enroll.
Undergraduate courses constitute a major share of the higher education sector of the country, accounting for 89% of the total enrollments. In comparison, post graduation (9%) and research (1%) lag far behind. Most colleges in India lack good quality infrastructure required for orienting students to specialised subjects at the post graduation level. The lack of suitable infrastructure also deters the inculcation of a research environment. Thus, most such students opt to go abroad.
The report says that more than 90% of the students who appear for entrance exams for the IIMs and the IITs do not get admission in these institutes due to capacity constraints, indicating a huge gap in the available and required educational infrastructure in the country. Quoting the Assocham industry analysis, the report says that despite the availability of subsidised education in India, approximately 5 lakh students emigrate every year for professional education.
An engineering or a management student in eminent institutes of India pays around Rs5,400 as fees on a monthly basis, as against Rs67,500- Rs2,25,000 as fees in an equally reputed institute in other countries. “This costs the country Rs70,200 crorein foreign exchangeevery year, an amount sufficient to open around 20 management and engineering institutes in India, the report said.

Source Link: http://www.dnaindia.com/academy/report_maharashtra-tops-college-education-has-best-institutes_1365489