AISHE surveys reveal huge surge in female enrollment
Moa Jamir
Dimapur | February 6
Female students outnumber their male counterparts at every level of higher education in Nagaland, highlighted in the latest annual All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE).
The survey for 2020-21, released on January 29 by the Union Ministry of Education (MoE), reflected that out of the 46,954 students enrolled at various educational levels in Nagaland, there were 21,750 males and 25,204 females.
Overall, the enrollment in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Nagaland rose from 37,125 in 2012-13 to 46,954 in 2020-21, representing a 26.51% increase over the past decade.
During the same period, the overall enrollment of students in higher education in India increased from 3.10 crore to 4.13 crore or a 37.93% increase.
Nationwide, male students have a slight advantage over females, with respective enrollments of 2.12 crore and 2.01 crore in 2020-21.
In the North-East region, however, female enrollment stood at 6.14 lakh in 2020-21, higher than the male enrollment of 5.92 lakh.
For every 100 male students, there are 104 female students in the North-East States, as per an MoE release, adding that the trend has continued since 2018-19 when the former enrollment surpassed the latter for the first time.
Shift in Nagaland
In Nagaland, the shift occurred in 2012-14, when the overall enrollment of female students surpassed males for the first time with 19,296 and 19,674 students respectively.
To puts things into context, in 2012-13, male enrollment was 21,308 and female enrollment was 15,817. Likewise, in 2013-14, male enrollment increased slightly to 21,544 against 17,128 females.
However, female enrollment surpassed male enrollment the following year and the trend continued since then, except in 2018-19 when there were 21,987 male students and 23,475 female students.
Overall, from 2012-13 to 2020-21, female enrollment rose from 15,817 to 25,204, a 59.34% increase. During the same period, male enrollment increased by just over 2% from 21,308 to 21,750.
Meanwhile, the number of males pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) increased from 67 in 2013-14 to 279 in 2020-21, while the number of females increased from 60 to 314.
At the postgraduate level, male enrollment increased from 3,900 in 2012-13 to 2843 in 2020-21, while female enrollment increased from 1,449 to 4,252.
At the undergraduate level, male enrollment increased by 6.08% from 16,552 in 2012-13 to 17,600 in 2020-21, while female enrollment increased by 37.29% from 13,953 to 19,228.
In 2020-21, females outnumbered males at other levels such as PG Diploma, Diploma, and Certificate, except in the integrated course, where there were six males and no females.
HIEs in Nagaland
In 2012-13, there were four universities in Nagaland, including one central and one open university, as well as two private universities.
Further, there were 59 colleges, averaging 23 per lakh population (18-23 years).
In 2020-21, the number of universities increased to five with the addition of one private university.
The number of colleges also increased to 68, averaging 28 per lakh population (18-23 years) against the national average of 31 colleges with a total of 43,796 colleges across India.
Overall, there were 1,113 universities in India, including Deemed Universities in 2020-21.
