Moa Jamir
A higher proportion of women in the teaching workforce is often viewed as an indicator of inclusivity and progress in higher education. By that measure, Nagaland has much to celebrate. The State now ranks among the country's best in gender representation among faculty, with women accounting for nearly half of all teachers in higher education. Coupled with an almost even gender balance among students, it reflects an ecosystem where access, at least within institutions, appears far more equitable than in many parts of India.
Yet these encouraging numbers conceal a more fundamental concern. The question is not whether women who enter higher education have opportunities, but why so few young people, both gender alike, are reaching higher education in the first place.
The latest All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2023-24 profile places Nagaland among the bottom states in terms of Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), with the second-lowest participation in higher education in the country. In simple terms, a disproportionately small share of the State's youth is enrolled in colleges and universities compared to their peers elsewhere.
Viewed in isolation, this appears to be a higher education challenge. However, recent school education data suggest that the problem begins much earlier.
The latest UDISE+ analysis paints a remarkably consistent picture. Nagaland performs relatively well in enrolling children at the primary level, where the GER exceeds the national average. Thereafter, the system begins to lose students at every successive stage. The State records one of the lowest enrolment rates in upper primary, secondary and higher secondary education. By Class XI and XII, the GER has fallen to just 39.8%, the third lowest in India. Retention rates tell an equally sobering story, with less than one-third of students expected to complete the entire school cycle from Class I to XII.
The implication is difficult to ignore. Colleges cannot enroll students who never make it through school.
This does not necessarily establish a direct cause-and-effect relationship, but the continuity between the school and higher education data is striking. If a substantial number of students exit the education system during secondary and higher secondary schooling, the pool of potential entrants into colleges inevitably shrinks.
There are, of course, other contributing factors. Many students pursue studies outside Nagaland and may not be fully reflected in the State's institutional profile. Demographic changes, declining birth rates, migration, financial constraints, limited programme diversity, and employment considerations also influence enrolment decisions. These deserve careful examination before drawing firm conclusions. Moreover, the question of accessibility and affordability cannot be rule out.
Nevertheless, the school education data provide an important clue that policymakers cannot afford to overlook.
The encouraging aspects of Nagaland's higher education profile high female faculty participation, gender parity among students and an academic workforce that compares favourably with much of the country, demonstrate that when students do enter higher education, the environment is capable of supporting equitable participation.
The greater challenge lies upstream.
Improving higher education participation will require more than expanding college infrastructure or introducing new courses. It demands sustained attention to keeping students in school through adolescence, strengthening transitions from secondary to higher secondary education, reducing dropout rates, and ensuring that more students become eligible to pursue tertiary education in the first place.
Nagaland's higher education system appears to have built a reasonably inclusive destination. The pressing question is whether enough young people are completing the journey to reach it. Until that pipeline is strengthened, the State's impressive achievements in gender representation and faculty composition will continue to coexist with one of the country's lowest levels of higher education participation, a paradox that deserves far greater attention than it has received.
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