Gross Enrolment Ratio improves in AP

New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Education Dr Subhas Sarkar, in reply to a question by YSRCP MP V Vijayasai Reddy, in the Rajya Sabha here on Wednesday stated that Anantapur, East Godavari, Kurnool, Prakasam, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and West Godavari fell under the Educationally Backward Districts (EBDs) in Andhra Pradesh.

He said an expert committee was constituted by the University Grants Commission (UGC) in 2008 which had identified 374 EBDs where Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education was less than the national average of 12.4 per cent based on 2001 Census data.

The Project Approval Board (PAB) of RUSA (Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan) had approved an amount of Rs 317 crore, under various components, in the 7 identified EBDs in the State of Andhra Pradesh for improving the higher education in the State, the Minister said. Education being in the Concurrent List, enhancing the quality of education was the responsibility of both the Central and State governments. However, recognising the need for Central assistance, the Central government had implemented various schemes for supporting the State governments.

He said the Department of Higher Education was implementing a Centrally sponsored scheme of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) aimed at promoting access, equity and quality, inter alia. The scheme provided Central assistance to States for creation of Model Degree Colleges, Infrastructure grants to colleges and universities, etc.

As informed by the State, student enrolment improved in the above districts by 9.18% from 6,50,618 in 2014-15 to 7,10,409 in 2019-20. The Gross Enrolment Ratio of Andhra Pradesh also rose from 31.2 per cent in 2014-15 to 35.2 percent in 2019-20, the Minister concluded.