New scheme to raise higher education enrolment

Updated on: Monday, April 09, 2012

The government is planning a Central scheme to incentivise the States to improve higher education in the country, concerned over the low enrolment ratio in higher education,

The proposed Rashtriya Ucchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) is aimed at increasing enrolment in the higher education institutions to 30 per cent by 2020 as against the present 12.4 per cent. The government intends to subsume the current scheme of setting up model degree colleges in 374 educationally backward districts of the country.

The State Education Secretaries' meet next week will witness further discussion on the proposed scheme and its implementation .

The RUSA aims to expand the institutional base of higher education by creating additional capacity in existing institutions, establishing new institutions and incentivising State governments.

It will focus on providing higher education opportunities to socially deprived communities, address disparities by promoting inclusion of women, minorities, Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes and differently abled persons. It will also seek to remove regional imbalances in access to higher education by setting up institutions in unserved and underserved areas.

The government plans to subsume the current scheme of setting up model degree colleges in 374 educationally backward districts. Though announced in 2007, the programme's financial architecture was only finalised in 2010.

Till date, only 142 proposals for the 374 model colleges have been received from the States — of which only 78 have been approved and another 31 are under consideration.

The strategy is to ensure one Degree College in every district and opening of new universities and expanding/upgrading existing universities. Through RUSA, it is hoped to make all institutions conform to prescribed norms, improve pupil-teacher ratio and address reforms in examination, governance, accreditation issues and overhaul of the affiliation system.

The programme will be funded in the ratio of 75:25, with the Centre putting up three-fourths of the cost. For special category States, the funding ratio will be 90:10. To increase fund availability, it has been proposed that as much as 50 per cent of the State share could be mobilised through public private partnerships. The balance funds including recurring cost of the institutions will be met by the State governments. Land for the institution will be provided free of cost by the State governments.

New scheme to raise higher education enrolment

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