During the budget session in the Lok Sabha, an important question was asked on the status of Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Class (OBC) students in higher education. YSR Congress Party MP from Andhra Pradesh Dr D. Ravi Kumar asked the Education Minister whether the government has assessed the enrollment of SC, ST and OBC students in private higher education institutions (HEIs) considering the recent All India Survey of Higher Education (AISHE) 2022-23 data? Let us know what response the government gave in this matter and these figures show what is the number of students of these categories in private universities?

YSRCP MP asked these questions

Dr. D. Ravi Kumar asked that institution-wise details of seats reserved for SC/ST/OBC students and actual enrollment in private HEIs and Institutes of Excellence (IoEs) receiving financial or policy support from the government be provided. If the government has not made such an assessment, what are the reasons for it? Also, does the government plan to implement monitoring, disclosure or compliance measures related to grants, scholarships or IoE status to ensure that norms of reservation, equality and inclusion are followed? If yes, what are its details and time frame?

Minister of State for Education gave this answer

Dr. Sukant Majumdar, Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, said in the Lok Sabha that education comes in the concurrent list of the Constitution. Therefore, it is the responsibility of both the Central and State Governments to increase the participation of all communities in higher education. The ministry is running several schemes, projects and programs which are in accordance with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. The main objective of NEP 2020 is that no child should lose the opportunity of good education and success because of his congenital condition or background. This policy emphasizes on reducing the gap between social groups, giving more opportunities to women and improving learning outcomes.

How is the situation in higher education?

The minister said that the government had implemented the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act in 2006. Under this, 15% seats are reserved for SC, 7.5% for ST and 27% for OBC in central institutions. 10% reservation for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) has also been implemented from January 2019. 5% horizontal reservation is also given for Persons with Disabilities (PwBD). The central government has taken several steps to increase access to higher education. In these, special focus has been kept on women and weaker sections. These steps include reducing fees, creating more institutions, giving scholarships and giving priority to economically weaker students in national level scholarships, etc. The government runs scholarships and fellowships for all higher education institutions (HEIs), including eligible private institutions, to increase access to students from socially disadvantaged groups.

What do the figures say?

AISHE 2022-23 data shows that the share of SC/ST/OBC students in the total higher education enrollment in the country has increased significantly. Overall, the share of SC/ST/OBC has reached 60.8%, while the share of General Category (including EWS) is around 39%. The share of SC/ST/OBC in government institutions is 62.2%, while in private institutions also it is around 60%. This shows that apart from reservation, students of these categories are progressing on merit also.

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Recently, during the budget session in the Lok Sabha, a big question was raised regarding the closure of government schools. Congress MP from Bihar Dr Mohammad Javed and MP from Rajasthan Bhajan Lal Jatav asked Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, ‘Does the government know how many government schools have been closed or abolished across the country in the last five years? How many schools were closed state-wise and union territories? What were the reasons for closing these schools? It should also be told that how many children have left studies due to these closed schools?

MPs said this

Both the MPs said that due to closure of government schools, the education of children of poor and rural areas is being adversely affected. They wanted the government to give complete information on this and tell what steps are being taken in this direction.

Education Minister said this

While replying in the House, Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said that education comes in the concurrent list in the Constitution of India. This means that opening, closing or merging schools (rationalization) rests primarily in the hands of state governments and union territory administrations. The central government does not take direct decisions in this. He said that under the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 (RTE Act), it is necessary to provide primary education (class 1 to 5) to every child near his home or in his neighbourhood. According to Section 6 of RTE, all the states have fixed the distance and standards of their neighborhood schools. Section 8 says that it is the duty of the state government to provide free and compulsory education to every child and to have a school.

Dharmendra Pradhan gave these figures

The Education Minister said that the government is concerned about the availability of schools and a lot of work has been done in this direction. He cited data from UDISE+ (Unified District Information System for Education Plus). Let us tell you that UDISE+ is a reliable system for collecting school education data. According to this, access to schools in the country has improved significantly. It is measured by Gross Access Ratio (GAR). GAR means the percentage of villages or hamlets in an area that have school availability within the prescribed standards.

Such are the statistics of schools

• Primary Level (Class 1-5): It was 97.15% in 2018-19, which increased to 97.83% in 2024-25.
• Upper Primary Level (Class 6-8): 96.49% in 2018-19, 96.57% in 2024-25.
• Secondary Level (Class 9-10): It was 88.24% in 2018-19, which has increased to 95.35% in 2024-25.
• Higher Secondary Level (Class 11-12): In 2018-19 it was 65.05%. It will increase to 94.97% in 2024-25.

These figures show that access to schools is continuously improving at various levels. Besides, the dropout rate (school leaving rate) has also decreased.

Such decisions are made for children

Dharmendra Pradhan stressed that any school can be closed or merged only by following the rules of RTE Act. If a school is closed, it is ensured that the education of the children is not affected and they are sent to another nearby school. The central government provides assistance to the states under the Samagra Shiksha Yojana, so that schools are better, teachers are available and children do not leave school.

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