AN OVERVIEW

1. POPULATION

1.1 It is observed that the Population of India has been growing steadily over the past several decades. The growth rate has been higher particularly after 1951. The total population figures according to census are given below from 1951 onwards:-

        
                                                       Statement 1
        
                                                    Growth of Population 
                                                                                     (in 000's)
        
                                                                             
Census Year Total Population Decadal Rural Urban Person Male Female Growth Rate 1951 361088 185528 175560 +13.31 298644 62444 1961 439235 226293 212942 +21.64 360298 78937 1971 548160 284049 264111 +24.80 439046 109114 1981 683329 353374 329955 +24.66 523866 159463 1991 846303 439231 407072 +23.50 628692 217611

1.2 The Population in the age-group 6-11 years, is estimated to have increased from 103.5 million in 1994 to 104.8 million in 1995. Likewise, the Population in the age-group 11-14 years is estimated to have increased from 58.9 million in 1994 to 59.9 in 1995.

2. LITERACY RATES

2.1 The literacy rates have shown a considerable increase since Independence. But the disparity between the male and female literacy rates continue to exist.

2.2 The sex wise literacy rates (percentages) relate to population aged five years and above for 1951, 1961 and 1971. The rates for the year 1981 and 1991 relate to the population aged seven years and above as per the census. These are as under:-

        
                                                Statement 2
                                                                              
                                              Literacy Rates 
        
                                                                             
Year Persons Male Female
1951 18.33 27.16 8.86 1961 28.31 40.40 15.34 1971 34.45 45.95 21.97 1981 43.67 56.50 29.85 1991 52.21 64.13 39.29

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3. INSTITUTIONS

3.1 There has been considerable increase in the number of primary and upper primary level institutions during the period between 1950-51 and 1993-94. This is evident from the table below:-

                                                          Statement 3 
        
                                   Growth of Recognised Educational Instituions since 1951 
                                                                             
Years Primary Upper High/Hr Sec Colleges Colleges Univer- Primary Inter/Pre Deg for Gen- for Prof sities Jr Colleges eral Edn. Edn. 1950-51 209671 13596 7416 370 208 27 1955-56 278135 21730 10838 466 218 31 1960-61 330399 49663 17329 967 852 45 1965-66 391064 75798 27614 1536 770 64 1970-71 408378 90621 37051 2285 992 82 1975-76 454270 106571 43054 3667 3276** 101 1980-81 494503 118555 51573 3421 3542** 110 1985-86 528872 134846 65837 4067 1533** 126 1990-91 560935 151456 79803 4862 886 184 1991-92 566744 155926 82576 5058 950 196 @ 1992-93 *572541 153921 84086 5334 989 207 @ 1993-94 *572923 155707 88411 5639 1125 213 @
* Provisional ** Includes institutions for Post-Matric Courses. @ Includes Deemed to be Universities & Institutions of National Importance.

3.2 A Comparative position of selected type of institutions during 1993-94 and 1994-95 has been presented in the following statement-

                                          Statement 3.1  
                                                                             
Number of Institutions Type of Institutions 1993-94 1994-95
a) Pre-Primary Schools 17172 41487 b) Primary Schools 572923 581305 c) Middle Schools 155707 163605 d) High Schools 65255 68065 e) Hr. Sec. Schools(New Pattern) 20167 21125 f) Inter/Jr./Pre Degree Colleges 2989 3062 g) Arts. Sci & Com. Colleges 5639 6089 h) Engg./Tech. Colleges 308 341 (Degree & above Level) i) Medical Colleges (Allopathy) 233 303 Ayurvedic j) Teacher Training Colleges 584 586 k) Polytechnics 1021 1107 l) Universities* 213 219
* Includes Deemed to be Universities & Institutions of National Importance. N.B. Diploma level institutions are given separately in Table IV.

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4. ENROLMENT

4.1 Statement given below presents the progress of sex-wise enrolment for different stages of school education from 1950-51 to 1994-95:-

                                                       Statement 4  
        
                                 Sex-wise Enrolment by Stages/Classes since 1951 - School level 
        
                                                                                           (in millions)
                                                                             
Year Primary Middle/Upper Primary High/Hr.Sec. Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total Boys Girls Total
1950-51 13.8 5.4 19.2 2.6 0.5 3.1 1.3 0.2 1.5 1955-56 17.1 7.5 24.6 3.8 1.0 4.8 2.2 0.4 2.6 1960-61 23.6 11.4 35.0 5.1 1.6 6.7 2.7 0.7 3.4 1965-66 32.2 18.3 50.5 7.7 2.8 10.5 4.4 1.3 5.7 1970-71 35.7 21.3 57.0 9.4 3.9 13.3 5.7 1.9 7.6 1975-76 40.6 25.0 65.6 11.0 5.0 16.0 6.5 2.4 8.9 1980-81 45.3 28.5 73.8 13.9 6.8 20.7 7.6 3.4 11.0 1985-86 52.2 35.2 87.4 17.7 9.6 27.1 11.5 5.0 16.5 1990-91 57.0 40.4 97.4 21.5 12.5 34.0 12.8 6.3 19.1 1991-92 58.6 42.3 100.9 22.0 13.6 35.6 13.5 6.9 20.4 1992-93 * 60.5 44.9 105.4 23.7 15.0 38.7 15.0 7.7 22.7 1993-94 * 61.8 46.4 108.2 24.2 15.7 39.9 15.3 8.0 23.3 1994-95 * 62.3 46.8 109.1 24.5 15.8 40.3 16.0 8.4 24.4
* Provisional

4.2 The participation of girls at all stages of education has been increasing steadily over the time as may, be seen from Statement 4.1. However, the percentages are still much below fifty per cent at all-stages of education.

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                                      Statement 4.1  
        
                                  Girls Enrolment by Stages 
        
                                                         ( %  to total enrolment)
                                                                             
Year Primary Middle Sec/Hr.Sec Hr. Education I-V VI-VIII 10+2/Inter (Degree & above level) 1950-51 28.1 16.1 13.3 10.0 1955-56 30.5 20.8 15.4 14.6 1960-61 32.6 23.9 20.5 16.0 1965-66 36.2 26.7 22.0 20.4 1970-71 37.4 29.3 25.0 20.0 1975-76 38.1 31.3 26.9 23.2 1980-81 38.6 32.9 29.6 26.7 1985-86 40.3 35.6 30.3 33.0 1990-91 41.5 36.7 32.9 33.3 1991-92 41.9 38.2 33.8 32.3 1992-93* 42.6 38.8 33.9 33.2 1993-94* 42.7 39.1 34.3 33.5 1994-95* 42.8 38.9 34.4 34.0
* Provisional

N.B. Some discrepancies have been observed in the data on enrolment received from some of the States relating to by Stage and by Type of Institutions at Primary, Middle, Higher/Higher Secondary levels.

5. GROSS ENROLMENT RATIOS

5.1 The gross enrolment ratio is defined as the percentage ratio of the enrolment in classes I-V and VI-VIII to the estimated child population in the age groups 6-11 years and 11-14 years. Enrolment at primary stage 6-11 years include under age and over- age children. Hence the total percentage may be more than 100. The gross enrolment ratios for the age-group 6-11 years and 11-14 years are presented below in the statement

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                                                   Statement 5 
                                              Gross Enrolment Ratios 
        
                                                BOYS 
                                                                             
Years I-V VI-VIII I-VIII Primary Upper Primary Elementary 1950-51 60.6 20.6 46.4 1960-61 82.6 33.2 65.2 1970-71 95.5 46.5 75.5 1980-81 95.8 54.3 82.0 1990-91 114.0 76.6 100.0 1991-92 112.8 75.1 101.2 1992-93 118.1 80.5 104.2 1993-94 115.3 79.3 102.3 1994-95 114.8 79.0 101.8
GIRLS
Years I-V VI-VIII I-VIII Primary Upper Primary Elementary
1950-51 24.8 4.6 17.7 1960-61 41.4 11.3 30.9 1970-71 60.5 20.8 44.4 1980-81 64.1 28.6 52.1 1990-91 85.5 47.0 70.8 1991-92 86.9 49.6 73.2 1992-93 92.7 53.8 75.5 1993-94 92.9 55.2 79.3 1994-95 92.6 55.0 78.8
TOTALS Years I-V VI-VIII I-VIII Primary Upper Primary Elementary 1950-51 42.6 12.7 32.1 1960-61 62.4 22.5 48.7 1970-71 78.6 33.4 61.9 1980-81 80.5 41.9 67.5 1990-91 100.1 62.1 86.0 1991-92 100.2 62.8 87.7 1992-93 105.7 67.5 91.8 1993-94 104.5 67.7 91.2 1994-95 104.0 67.2 90.7

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                                                                      Statement No.5.1  
                                                          Dropout Rates at Primary & Middle Stages 
        
                                                                             
1960-61 1970-71 1980-81 1990-91 1991-92 1992-93 1993-94
Classes I-V Boys 61.7 64.5 56.2 42.0 41.0 40.1 35.0 Girls 70.9 70.9 62.5 47.6 45.2 43.0 38.6 Total 64.9 67.0 58.7 44.4 42.8 41.3 36.3 Classes I-VIII Boys 75.0 74.6 68.0 60.6 54.3 54.0 49.9 Girls 25.0 83.4 79.4 67.6 62.0 60.1 56.8 Total 78.3 77.9 72.7 63.4 57.5 56.5 52.8

6. TEACHER

6.1 In terms of the teacher, a substantial increase has been registered from 1950-51 to 1993-94 at all types of schools except it slight decrease in upper primary schools due to decline in their number as reported by certains states (viz; Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Goa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and U T of Pondicherry) as may be seen in the table below:-

        
                                                             Statement 6  
        
                                    Distribution of Teachers by Type of Schools since 1951 
        
                                                                                                   (in 000's)
                                                                             
Year Primary Upper Primary High/Hr Sec M F T M F T M F T
1950-51 456 82 538 73 13 86 107 20 127 1955-56 574 117 691 132 19 151 155 35 190 1960-61 615 127 742 262 83 345 234 62 296 1965-66 764 180 944 389 139 528 368 111 479 1970-71 835 225 1060 463 175 638 474 155 629 1975-76 955 283 1248 554 224 778 559 200 759 1980-81 1021 342 1363 598 253 851 669 257 926 1985-86 1094 402 1496 663 305 968 793 339 1132 1990-91 1143 473 1616 717 356 1073 917 417 1334 1991-92 1152 492 1644 714 365 1079 931 450 1381 1992-93 * 1189 493 1682 736 346 1082 908 445 1353 1993-94 * 1196 507 1703 710 370 1080 938 467 1405 1994-95 * 1181 533 1714 732 390 1122 956 490 1446
* Provisional

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7. COLLEGIATE EDUCATION

7.1 Based on the data received from State/UTs, number of students enrolled in General Education Courses (Arts, Science & commerce) increased from 4146 thousand in 1993-94 to 4311 thousand in 1994-95. The percentage of girls is 35.21 in 1994- 95. The enrolments in three important Professional degree cours- es viz. Eng/Tech (B.E./B.Tech), Medicine (M.B.B.S.) and Teachers Training (B.Ed/B.T.) increased from 460109 in 1993-94 to 499282 in 1994-95. The increase in girls enrolment in the cours- es was from 107678 in 1993-94 to 118905 in 1994-95.