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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Number of students up 38% in 10 years, shows census -Subodh Varma

Number of students up 38% in 10 years, shows census -Subodh Varma

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published Published on Aug 30, 2015   modified Modified on Aug 30, 2015
-The Times of India

In the space of a decade, between 2001 and 2011, the student population in India exploded from about 229 million to 315 million. That's a jump of nearly 38%. The overall population growth in the same period was 18%. But Census data released on Friday underscores a much bigger shift within these gross figures.

Students in the age group 15 to 19 years increased by a dramatic 73% in the decade, from 44 million to over 76 million. This age group pertains to students at senior secondary and post-school higher education levels. So, the massive increase in student populations is being driven by a spectacular growth in higher classes, with women students leading the charge.

"There is a deep hunger for education in India today that never existed at this mass scale earlier. Education is seen as a sure path towards economic wellbeing," explained Jayan Jose Thomas, professor at IIT Delhi who has been studying education and employment in India. "The question looming in front of us now is whether suitable jobs can be given to all these educated people," he added.

The new Census data also reveals the flip side of this student growth — those who are left behind. Nearly one in 5 of all seven-year-old children had not yet entered school. That's about 4.8 million kids. By age 13, this proportion had come down to about 7% of that age. That is, about 1.6 million children had still never entered school. The trend is for children to enter school late and for some to never get any schooling.

Over 308 million Indians, making up about 25% of the population of age 5 years and above have never attended any educational institution. But this is a legacy of the past — nearly three quarters of them (72%) are 25 years or older.

Thomas has analyzed the data coming from NSSO to see how exactly this student population explosion happened between the Census years of 2001 and 2011.

Student enrollment in the 5-9 and 10-14 years age groups increased substantially between 1996 and 2004-05 driven by the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, various Supreme Court directives regarding mid-day meals etc. After 2004-5, the enrollment among 15-19 years age group has risen consistently as shown by NSSO data analysed by Thomas.

Interestingly, Thomas finds that the gap between rich and poor in terms of education for the whole 5 to 24 years age group has come down over the years. This means that the poorer sections are also eager to get educated and may be willing to make economic sacrifices in order to get their children educated, as far as possible.

But there is one gap that is still not coming down in India — the regional imbalance. As the Census 2011 data shows, enrollment in the 15 to 19 years age group varies widely across states with Kerala having the highest student share of 83% and Odisha at the other extreme with just 43% enrollment.

Surprisingly, West Bengal and Gujarat are also in the bottom league with 53 and 51% student shares in the 15-19 years age group. This reflects on the availability of higher education options in the state. More industrialized and urbanized states like Maharashtra Haryana and Tamil Nadu are among the states with higher student shares.


The Times of India, 30 August, 2015, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/Number-of-students-up-38-in-10-years-shows-census/articleshow/48727528.cms


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