HRD to launch survey on state of higher education

Faced with inadequate information on the subject, the HRD ministry will, for the first time in more than 60 years, launch a massive survey on the state of higher education in the country.

The task has been given to the National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA) and is likely to be completed in a year's time.

"Higher education in the country is plagued by lack of reliable data. It has hampered policy initiatives that need to be taken. For instance, the data on Gross Enrolment Ratio does not get updated properly taking into account the private sector's increasing intervention in higher education," an official said.

The decision to undertake the mammoth exercise was taken by a task force headed by a senior HRD official. The collection of data is expected to begin shortly and NUEPA would seek the help of educational institutions throughout the country to carry out the survey.

The aim of the survey is to provide adequate and reliable data on higher education. The survey intends to cover all institutions of higher education – both public and private — in the country. These include all universities, including deemed universities, institutions of national importance and other institutions of university level, general and professional/technical including engineering, medical, dental, veterinary, agriculture, computer, management, law, pharmacy, teacher training, etc. Even colleges and institutions that offer post-secondary education like polytechnics will be included in the survey.

"It would give us a real picture of higher education in the country," the official said. This exercise would be loosely based on the model of survey of elementary education that is carried out by NUEPA every year.

"Once we have the basic data, the plan is to update it annually just the way it is done for elementary education," the official said. The survey would collect data on basic profile of institutions like management, affiliation status, courses offered, and income and expenditure of the institutions, besides the data on enrolment and faculty.

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