According to the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) report released on Thursday, their numbers increased from 19.05 lakh in 2018-19 to 19.51 lakh in 2019-20. According to the report, the state's Gender Parity Index increased from 0.86 in 2015-16 to 0.93 in 2019-20. The index is better when it is closer to 1.
With 4,494 colleges, Maharashtra ranks second following Uttar Pradesh, with 34 colleges available per lakh population. In terms of state-share in 2019-20, the state leads the way with 9.67 lakh students enrolled in universities, including constituent units such as sub-centers, followed by Tamil Nadu with 9.26 lakh and Delhi with 8.16 lakh.
However, the number of foreign students enrolled in the state fell to 4,599 in 2019-20, down from 5003 in 2018-19. Pune has retained its fourth-place ranking in the country as the city with the most colleges, with 467, up from 450 in 2018-19. According to Dhanraj Mane, state director for higher education, one of the reasons for more girls enrolling in higher education is the increase in rural colleges.
“Hostel facilities are made available to them. The free bus pass girl students get helps them to complete school education and enter college. The increase in nursing colleges in the state has helped more women take up the course as the possibility of getting a job is high. Women have also started taking the benefit of various scholarships available to them due to better awareness of the schemes, which boosts higher enrolment,” Mane added.
V N Magare, pro-vice-chancellor of SNDT Women's University, stated that as women's empowerment becomes more widely known, more of them will pursue higher education.
“As an exclusive university for women, our founding fathers wanted to empower them. We provide skill-based education which helps them get a job easily and that helps them stand on their own feet. This inspires other women to take up higher education too. The numbers will increase more in the coming years,” Magare added.
Vijay Khare, director of the International Centre at Savitribai Phule Pune University said, “There is stiff competition that Maharashtra faces from private and deemed universities from southern states as well as in and around Delhi. They have an aggressive marketing strategy that attracts foreign students that we lack. This can be one reason for the decline.”
Another senior official from SPPU said that one of the reasons for the decline may also be due to the tougher admission policy for international students in Maharashtra. “Technical education, especially engineering, is sought after by these students but when it comes to admission in the state, it is a lengthy and difficult process with hardly any counselling available to the students. This process needs to be streamlined,” he added.
