Niti Aayog report seeks more public funding for higher education

Among all states and Union Territories, Jammu and Kashmir spends most for education as a percentage of GDP at 8.11%, followed by Manipur (7.25%), Meghalaya (6.64%), and Tripura (6.19%) according to a policy report prepared by the NITI Aayog titled ‘Expanding Quality Higher Education through States and State Public Universities’. The report, released here on Monday, said in contrast, Delhi (1.67%), Telangana (2%), and Karnataka (2.01%) allocate significantly less towards higher education.

The report found that there are states with negative growth rates in spending on higher education. “Mean per youth expenditure on higher education rose from ₹2,174 to ₹4,921 between 2005-06 and 2019-20. However, within this increase, the divergence between states has risen significantly,” it noted. Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana continue to be the top spenders on per youth spending on higher education, with states like Rajasthan, Punjab and Chhattisgarh lagging, the report added.

Maharashtra leads in higher education funding with a budget of ₹11,421 crore, followed by Bihar (₹9,666 crore) and Tamil Nadu (₹7,237 crore), the report found. “States like Sikkim (₹ 142 crore), Arunachal Pradesh (₹155 crore), and Nagaland (₹167 crore) have the lowest higher education budgets,” it said. When considering higher education expenditure as a percentage of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP), Bihar ranks highest at 1.56%, followed by Jammu & Kashmir at 1.53% and Manipur at 1.45%. “Telangana has the lowest percentage at 0.18%, while Gujarat and Rajasthan allocate 0.23% each,” the report noted.

The report, the Niti Aayog said in a statement, is a first-of-its kind policy document in the higher education sector focused specifically on States and State Public Universities (SPUs). Releasing the report, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Suman Bery said in many global education systems, public universities set the benchmark for excellence. “While India has institutions like IITs, State Public Universities must also strive for high standards,” he said. He hoped that the recommendations contained in the report would be enthusiastically taken forward by the Ministries in the Central and State Governments.

The policy report provides a detailed policy roadmap including nearly 80 policy recommendations. The national average university density is 0.8. Sikkim has the highest density of 10.3, followed by Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Uttarakhand. “In the highly populated states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Maharashtra, density at the state level is below the national average, with Bihar recording the lowest at 0.2,” the report said.

“States like Kerala, Chhattisgarh and Himachal Pradesh have higher female enrolment rates than males, serving as models of success for greater access to higher education for women. Geographically smaller states and UTs like Chandigarh, Mizoram, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have relatively balanced male-female enrolments, with differences of only a few hundred students,” the report said.