NEW DELHI: Jammu and Kashmir spends most on education as a percentage of GSDP among all states and Union Territories in the country followed by the northeastern states, suggested a policy report titled ‘Expanding Quality Higher Education through States and State Public Universities’ released by the NITI Aayog on February 10.
According to the report, Jammu and Kashmir spends 8.11% of the GSDP on education, followed by Manipur (7.25%), Meghalaya (6.64%), and Tripura (6.19%), says the report released on February 11. Delhi (1.67%), Telangana (2%), and Karnataka (2.01%) allocate significantly less as percentage of the GDP for higher education.
The report also points out some states with negative growth rates when it comes to the spendings on higher education.
“Mean per youth expenditure on higher education rose from 2,174 to ₹4,921 between 2005-06 and 2019-20. However, within this increase, the divergence between states has risen significantly. Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana continue to be the top spenders on per youth spending on higher education, with states like Rajasthan, Punjab and Chhattisgarh lagging,” the report said.
Maharashtra leads among the states in higher education funding with a budgetary allocation of ₹11,421 crore, followed by Bihar (₹9,666 crore) and Tamil Nadu (₹7,237 crore).
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“States like Sikkim (₹ 142 crore), Arunachal Pradesh (₹155 crore), and Nagaland (₹167 crore) have the lowest higher education budgets,” it said. When considering higher education expenditure as a percentage of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), Bihar ranks highest at 1.56%, followed by Jammu & Kashmir at 1.53% and Manipur at 1.45%. “Telangana has the lowest percentage at 0.18%, while Gujarat and Rajasthan allocate 0.23% each,” the report pointed out.
The Niti Aayog said that the report is a first-of-its kind policy document in the higher education sector focused specifically on States and State Public Universities (SPUs).
The report also offers a policy roadmap. It said that the national average university density is 0.8.
Sikkim has the highest density of 10.3 among states and union territories, followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Uttarakhand
“In the highly populated states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra, density at the state level is below the national average, with Bihar recording the lowest at 0.2,” the report said.
“States like Kerala, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh have higher female enrolment rates than males, serving as models of success for greater access to higher education for women. Geographically smaller states and UTs like Chandigarh, Mizoram, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have relatively balanced male-female enrolments, with differences of only a few hundred students,” the report said.
Releasing the report, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery said in many global education systems, public universities set the benchmark for excellence. “While India has institutions like IITs, State Public Universities must also strive for high standards,” he said.
For full policy report of NITI Aayog on ‘Expanding Quality Higher Education through States and State Public Universities’, click here.
For full policy brief, click here.