INDIA: Poor funding hits higher education enrolment

Poor funding and lack of quality and quantity of teachers have affected the enrolment of students in higher education in India, a recent report has said. The Ernst & Young-EDGE 2008 report on Globalising Higher Education in India found low levels of funding of higher education in India compared with other developing nations such as China, Brazil and Russia, reports Zee News.


The low funding has affected the Gross Enrolment Rate (GER), the percentage of youths between 18 and 24 years studying in higher education. GER is 11% in India against an average of 31.5% in Brazil, Russia and China. The GER in developed countries is 71.6%. India spends a meagre 0.37% of GDP on higher education, against Brazil's 0.91%, Russia's 0.67% and China's 0.5%, the report said. The share of GDP committed to higher education in developed countries is much higher: 1.88% in Canada, 1.41% in the US, 1.19% in Australia 1.07% in the UK.

The student-teacher ratio is very high in India - one teacher per 26 students compared with 13.6 to one in Brazil, 11 to one in Russia and 13.5 to one in China.
Full report on the Zee News site