The student teacher ratio in higher education in Gujarat is among the worst in the country. This is amply highlighted in a recent study conducted by professor Rakesh Basant of Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM-A).
The data used in the study reveals that Gujarat has the second lowest teacher-student ratio. Where the national average is 23 students per teacher, Gujarat has 41 students per teacher. Only Uttar Pradesh with 46 students per teacher fares worse.
Co-authored by Partha Mukhopadhyay, the working paper titled ‘An Arrested Virtuous Circle? – Higher Education and High-Tech Industries in India’, which was published in May this year, says 34 per cent of Gujarat’s colleges were rated below average — a high number considering Kerala has only 11 per cent and Punjab 17 per cent in this category.
One of the main reasons for the low rating of Gujarat’s colleges is the absence of teachers.Ranked 8th in Tech Index
According to the statistics quoted in the paper, the Tech Index of Gujarat is eighth in the country. Tech Index is the state’s share of professional colleges divided by its population share. This primarily means that the number of opportunities available for students in Gujarat are much less compared to other states.
Hundreds of students from Gujarat are forced to go outside the state, often paying high capitation fee. “Addressing governance failures in higher education is necessary to strengthen the links between higher education and high tech industry,” say Rakesh Basant and Partha Mukhopadhyay, the coauthors.
MN Desai, chairman of the Joint Admission Committee for Professional Courses (Technical) said, “Gujarat started letting selffinanced institutes come up in the state only recently. The state was conservative and the fee and administration issues were major concerns. But we are soon catching up.”
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