Himachal Pradesh (HP) tribals have the highest Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education at 44.5 among Scheduled Tribes (STs) of the country, according to the All India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE) 2021-22.

The state is followed by Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand where the GER is 43.9 and 42.1 among the tribals, respectively.

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The GER in higher education is calculated as total enrolment in higher education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the eligible official population in 18-23 years. The AISHE is conducted under the Ministry of Education. The report was released on January 25.

The GER of STs in HP has been consistently rising. In 2020-21, it was 39.7.

When it comes to the GER of tribal women, HP tops across the country. The GER of ST women in Himachal is 50.6, followed by Sikkim (42.1) and Uttarakhand (42).

However, in the GER among tribal men, it is Tamil Nadu which tops the country at 50.2, followed by Arunachal Pradesh (42.2) and Uttarakhand (42.1)

The overall GER of STs is 21.2 in the country, with 21.4 among men and 20.9 among women.

As far as estimated enrolment in various higher education courses in 2021-22 is concerned, women have outperformed men in HP. There are 1,055 women pursuing PhD against 1,028 men. In Post Graduate courses too, against 18,862 women there are 15,071 men. In Under graduation, against an estimated 1.41 lakh women enrolment there are 1.19 lakh men. However, in the PG Diploma, there is an estimated enrolment of 970 males against 917 women.

Against a total of 1.73 lakh women in higher education in HP, there are 1.47 lakh men. When it comes to teachers, there are more men than women. Against 5,522 male teachers, there are 5,373 women faculty. There are 404 ST teachers with 181 women and 223 men. There are 1,025 SC teachers with 565 men and just 460 women.

Among professors, there are just 287 women but male teachers are almost three times at 845. The gap at the level of Associate Professor is also big with male teachers (772) being close to twice the women faculty (403). However, there are more women Assistant Professors (3,709) than men (3,526).

Overall, Himachal Pradesh has the fifth-highest GER in higher education in the country at 43.1. Only Chandigarh (64.8), Puducherry (61.5), Delhi (49) and Tamil Nadu (47) have higher GER.

In women enrolment in higher education, HP is placed at third spot along with Delhi at GER of 49.7. Only Chandigarh (75.4) and Puducherry (62.1) are ahead.

HP has one Central university, five Institutes of National Importance, seven state universities, and 17 private universities. There are 47 colleges per lakh population.