Growth and Magnitude of Higher Education System in India

Abstract

The key to harnessing India's demographic dividend is education. Indian higher education currently the third largest in the world, is likely to surpass the US in the next five years and China in the next 15 years to be the largest system of higher education in the world. Indian higher education has a complex structure riddled with many contradictions, still has great possibilities. By 2030, India will be amongst the youngest nations in the world. With nearly 140 million people in the college-going age group, one in every four graduates in the world will be a product of the Indian education system. Higher education in India has recorded impressive growth since Independence till at present. The student’s enrollment has been increasing every year. But the employability ratio is not up to the level of improvement when comparing with the student’s enrollment in the country. This paper aims to make an analysis about the growth and magnitude of Indian Higher Education System on the basis of India’s expenditure on higher education, growth of educational institutions, students’ enrollment and employment ratio. The study reveals that though there is a growth in all other aspects, the employability ratio is showing a declining trend. This indicates the need for improving the quality of education in India to attain a remarkable growth in the employability skills of the students and to satisfy the stakeholders.