The number of students enrolling in engineering courses has fallen considerably over the past five years, according to the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2019-20, released by the Union Ministry of Education on June 10. Among the major undergraduate level programmes, BTech (Bachelor of Technology) and BE (Bachelor of Engineering) saw a drop of 13.32% in the number of enrolments (not including distance mode of education) since 2015-2016. Enrolments in MTech dropped by 33.68%. All other major undergraduate and graduate programs saw an overall rise in enrolments since 2015, except for BA (Bachelor of Arts), which saw a drop of 1.7% in enrolments.
Among the undergraduate level programs, BEd (Bachelor of Education) saw the highest rise, with enrolments more than doubling in the past five years by 155.90%. Courses related to medicine also have a lot more takers in 2019-20 compared to 2015-16. Enrolments in MBBS increased by 50.64%, BSc Nursing by 50.97% and BPharm by 50.54%. Enrolments in BBA (Bachelor of Business Administration) courses also went up by 51.21%. When it comes to postgraduate level programs, MSc courses saw the highest rise in enrolments (30.06%), followed by MCom (33.57%).
The AISHE report features key performance indicators that reflect the current status of higher education in India. The survey saw participation from a total of 1,019 universities, 39,955 colleges and 9,599 stand-alone institutions. Among the colleges surveyed, across India, there are 2678 engineering and technology colleges. Of these, the highest number of engineering colleges were in Tamil Nadu (455), followed by Maharashtra (345). Andhra Pradesh (273) and Telangana (191) together have 464 colleges.
Enrolment numbers for major undergraduate programmes/AISHE 2019-20
The survey found that the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education in India has increased in the last five years, from 24.5 in 2015-16 to 27.1 in 2019-20. The GER indicates the ratio of the number of students enrolled in a certain level of education (regardless of their age) to the population of the age group (18-23 years) that officially corresponds to that level of education. The GER for the male and female population is 26.9 and 27.3 respectively. For Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the GER is at 23.4 and 18. According to the survey, the rise in GER is more under the SC category, which has increased from 19.9 in 2015-16 to 23.4 in 2019-20. In the case of the ST category, the GER has increased from 14.2 to 18.0 during this period, the survey found.
Enrolment numbers for major postgraduate programmes/AISHE 2019-20
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