Chandigarh ranks second in education in SDG India Index
In the last report released in 2020-21, Chandigarh was the best among all UTs and states; this time, only Delhi is better than Chandigarh with a score of 85, while Kerala is third, having scored 82
With an overall score of 84, Chandigarh has ranked second among all UTs and states of the country in the education category as per the SDG India Index 2023-24 report released by Niti Aayog recently.
In the last report released in 2020-21, Chandigarh was the best among all UTs and states. This time, only Delhi is better than Chandigarh with a score of 85, while Kerala is third, having scored 82.
At 64.8, the UT has the highest Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher education among all states and UTs. It is calculated by taking number of students enrolled in any higher education institute over the total population of people between the age group of 18-23. 64.8% of these people are enrolled in higher education. Puducherry is second with 61.5% and Delhi third with 49%.
Speaking about this, UT director higher education Rubinderjit Singh Brar said, “Chandigarh is the centre of education for the region, and students from Mohali and Panchkula also come here for their college studies. Government colleges are most sought after because of their faculty and National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) grades.”
The UT also has the highest percentage of persons with disability (15 years and above) who have completed at least secondary education at 37.4%. It also has a zero percent average annual dropout rate for Classes 9 and 10.
Room for improvement in GER in schools
The Gross Enrolment Ratio in higher secondary classes (Classes 11-12) is at 81.7%. While the average is just 57.6% overall in the country, places like Delhi with 94.9% and Himachal Pradesh with 94.1% have done better than the UT.
Similarly, the Adjusted Net Enrolment Ratio in elementary education (Classes 1-8) for UT is 84.6%, even as places like Delhi have made it 100%.
On this, director school education Harsuhinderpal Singh Brar said, “This has to do with the projection of population that is being used for the survey. Niti Aayog is using projection of the 2011 census in which numbers are higher than the real picture, which can be seen by using Aadhaar data. We will request the Centre to use this data.”
This report was last compiled in 2020-21. While the overall index score of the UT has improved from 79 to 84, it has scored lower in some parameters. This includes GER for higher secondary classes and elementary classes, both of which have seen a drop by over 1%. DSE Brar said this was due to the population calculation and as per their calculations the GER had improved since the last report. The Gender Parity Index (GPI) for higher education has also gone down from 1.54 in the last report to 1.33 this year.