Gujarat added 26 new educational institutions and 199 affiliated colleges between 2017-18 and 2021-22, indicated the recently released All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) for the 2021-22 by the ministry of education of central government. In fact, the year 2021-22 saw 162 new colleges opening in the state, the highest among Indian states. Of the total, 147 were privately run institutes.
The rise in the number of colleges has not solved the problem of teacher to student ratio — Gujarat in 2017-18 had the ratio of 1:26 (one teacher per 26 students in higher educational institutes), which was closer to the national average of 1:25. In 2021-22, the ratio remained somewhat closer at 1:27 for Gujarat. In the five years, however, the national ratio improved to 1:23.
AISHE report indicated that Gujarat had 61,803 teaching faculties ranging from professors to temporary/visiting teachers in higher educational institutes. In 2021-22, the state had 12.74 lakh students in different years of colleges and institutions after Class 12.
In five years, the gross enrolment ratio (GER) for Gujarat has improved, indicated the report. GER is the number of students enrolled in higher education regardless of age divided by the population of the age group multiplied by 100, said experts. Compared to the overall GER of 20.1 in 2017-18, the number was 24 in 2021-22.
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