West Bengal Faces Challenges in Recent NITI Aayog Higher Education Report
Click to start listening
Synopsis
The NITI Aayog report highlights significant challenges faced by West Bengal in higher education, showcasing low enrolment ratios, inadequate expenditure, and poor teacher-student ratios compared to other states.
Key Takeaways
- Gross enrolment ratio in West Bengal: 26.3%
- State expenditure on higher education: 0.43% of GDP
- Teacher-student ratio: 29
- State-run universities enroll over 80% of students
- Fiscal health index rank: 16th
Kolkata, Feb 11 (NationPress) The most recent report issued by NITI Aayog concerning the landscape of higher education across various Indian states paints a bleak picture for West Bengal in multiple areas.
According to the NITI Aayog report titled 'Expanding Quality Higher Education through States and State Public Universities', the gross enrolment ratio in West Bengal for the year 2021-22 is merely 26.3 percent.
In terms of ranking, West Bengal finds itself significantly lower at the 18th position among all Indian states. Nevertheless, this gross enrolment ratio of 26.3 percent marks an improvement from the 13.6 percent recorded in 2011-12, the initial fiscal year under the Trinamool Congress administration.
The total state expenditure allocated to higher education in West Bengal as a percentage of gross state domestic product is also quite disappointing. The report indicates that this figure is merely 0.43 percent, which is considerably lower than even some of the smaller states in northeastern India, where expenditures are around one percent.
On a positive note, the penetration rate of state-run universities in West Bengal is commendable, with over 80 percent of students pursuing higher education enrolled in these institutions.
However, the teacher-to-student ratio in higher education is also lacking, with the current figure being just 29. This places West Bengal in the 23rd position among all Indian states for this metric. It is important to note that this current ratio is an improvement from the 33 recorded in 2011-12.
Last month, NITI Aayog released its report on the 'Fiscal Health Index: 2025', which highlighted West Bengal's poor performance across three crucial indicators of fiscal health: revenue mobilisation, expenditure quality, and debt index.
In this report, primarily focusing on the fiscal year 2022-23, the fiscal health of 18 Indian states was assessed, positioning West Bengal at the 16th rank.
