Tamil Nadu has topped the country in terms of undergraduate admissions. The state has a gross enrolment ratio (GER) of 47%, which is higher than the national average of 28.4%.
The All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) released the GER report for 2021-22. According to the report, Tamil Nadu has the highest GER for higher education.
The GER is calculated by taking the number of people in the age group of 18 to 23 in a state and dividing it by the number of people in that age group who are enrolled in higher education.
In the 2021-22 survey, Tamil Nadu topped the list of states with a large population. This proves that Tamil Nadu is the best in education.
According to the 2017-18 report, the GER for undergraduate admissions in Tamil Nadu was 46.2%. The GER for women was 47.7%. This figure rose to 48.1% for men and 49.9% for women in 2019-20.
The GER then fell slightly to 45.4% for men and 48.6% for women in 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021-22, Tamil Nadu topped the list of states with a GER of 47.0% for men and 47.3% for women.
The list of states in order of their GER is as follows:
Tamil Nadu (47.0%)
Andhra Pradesh (36.5%)
Karnataka (36.2%)
Maharashtra (35.3%)
Madhya Pradesh (28.9%)
Rajasthan (28.6%)
West Bengal (26.3%)
Uttar Pradesh (24.1%)
Gujarat (24.0%)
Bihar (17.1%)
In 2017, the total number of students enrolled in undergraduate education in Tamil Nadu was 73,32,200, of which 37,62,200 were men and 35,70,000 were women.
This number fell slightly in 2019 to 71,82,600. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the number fell further to 71,07,800.
The latest survey, conducted in 2021, found that the total number of students enrolled in undergraduate education in Tamil Nadu was 70,33,000. This is a significant decrease from 2017.
Despite topping the list in terms of the number of students enrolled in undergraduate education, the situation in Tamil Nadu has deteriorated since 2017.
Even though the Tamil Nadu government has introduced a scheme to provide ₹1,000 per month to women pursuing higher education, only 34,06,000 women enrolled in undergraduate education in 2021. The number of men who enrolled was 36,27,000.
Tamil Nadu needs to work harder to ensure social justice in education.