Kerala’s Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education has witnessed a considerable fall, according to the All India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE) 2021-22. In what appears to be a validation of claims suggesting an incremental increase in student migration from the State, the GER decreased from 43.2% (in the AISHE 2020-21) to 41.3%. The GER among females and males stood at 49% (previously 52.3%) and 34.1% (34.5%) respectively.
Kerala also fell one rung to become the seventh highest among States and Union Territories in this regard. The national average of GER among the age group of 18–23 grew to 28.4% from 27.3% previously.
The development has come as a blow for the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government that has often spot-lit the steady growth of GER in the State as an outcome of focused efforts being made to reform the sector.
