Rarity: Goa has high gross enrolment ratios despite few private colleges

Panaji: The higher the proportion of private unaided colleges in a state, the better is the coverage of higher education institutes in that region, according to a 2015 report by the National University for Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA). But Goa, along with Delhi and Chandigarh, is an exception to the rule with one of the best gross enrolment ratios (GER) in India, despite low stake of the private sector in higher education, states the study.
As per the report ‘Challenges of Massification of Higher Education in India,’ Goa’s figures go against the national trend where presence of mainly government colleges means poor access to higher education. The report found that, in 2012-13, private unaided colleges had only a 20% stake in Goa’s higher education sector, with 42.9% of the colleges being government owned and another 36.7 belonging to the aided category.
But Goa has been able to attain the second best gross enrolment ratio (GER) of over 13% in the country (Chandigarh having the best figure of over 28%), with little help from the private sector.
“The share of private unaided colleges in 2012‐13 is 81.6 per cent in Andhra Pradesh, 66.4 per cent in Karnataka, 64.9 per cent in Puducherry and these states also have a larger number of colleges per 100 thousand population. Other states having predominantly public universities and colleges have a lower density of institutions. The exception to this pattern is small states and Union Territories such as Delhi, Goa, and Chandigarh,” states the report by noted researcher N V Varghese.
In Goa only 8% of students in the 18 to 23 age group are enrolled in private unaided institutes of higher education, with over 90% studying in government or state aided colleges, according to Varghese.
As per his study, private colleges were more likely to be set up in states that seem to have the capacity to attract students from neighbouring regions for higher education purposes. Varghese names Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka as examples.