Mainstream WeeklyThe Government launched the National Education Policy (NEP) in 2020. The policy promised a lot of things: no more rigid single-subject degrees, the start of 4-year undergraduate courses, multiple options to exit and enter college without losing credits, and a massive jump in the number of students getting higher education.
But promises on paper are one thing, and ground reality is completely different. The Ministry of Education recently released the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) report for the academic year 2023–24. The findings of the report indicate uneven progress across key policy objectives. Sure, we are moving forward, but the speed is so slow that we might miss our targets by miles.
The 50% Enrolment Dream vs the 30% Reality
One of the biggest targets of NEP 2020 was to push the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) to 50% by the year 2035. GER basically measures how many youths in the 18–23 age group are attending college.
According to the AISHE 2023–24 report, national GER currently is 30.0%. Last year in 2022–23, the GER was 29.5%. This means that in one whole year, we only managed a 0.5% jump. The total student enrolment went from 4.46 crore in 2022–23 to 4.50 crore in 2023–24. We only have about nine years left to hit that massive 50% target. At the current rate of increase, achieving a GER of 50% by 2035 will require a substantially faster expansion of higher education opportunities.
But there is one piece of good news hidden in this data. Indian women are completely outperforming men in going to college. The female GER is currently 31.2, which is noticeably higher than the male GER of 28.9. The Gender Parity Index (GPI) is sitting at 1.08, meaning for every 100 boys in higher education, there are more girls attending classes.
4-Year Degree Confusion
NEP 2020 was heavily promoted on the idea of "flexibility." The plan was that students can mix and match subjects—like studying Physics with History on the side. It also introduced the 4-year undergraduate degree and the "Multiple Entry and Exit" system, where a student can drop out after one year, take a certificate, work for a while, and come back to finish the degree later.
The AISHE 2023–24 report tracked how many universities have actually adopted these NEP rules. Out of the 1,278 universities that responded to the survey:
- Only 56% of universities have introduced the 4-year UG program.
- Only 49% are offering Multiple Entry and Exit options.
- Only 45% offer multidisciplinary degree programs.
- About 71% have implemented an elective course system.
To support this flexibility, the government launched the Academic Bank of Credits (ABC), a digital locker for college credits. The report says 69% of universities have registered on the ABC portal. While almost 70% is a decent start, it still leaves nearly one-third of the university system outside the loop.
Privatisation and the Burden on Marginalised Students
Here is where the data gets serious for the common person. Who is actually providing higher education in India?
According to the new report, out of the 46,468 colleges that submitted their data, a massive 70.0% are Private (Un-Aided) colleges. Only 17.1% are government colleges, and 12.9% are Private (Aided).
The growing dominance of private institutions highlights huge concerns regarding affordability, particularly for economically disadvantaged students. Even though private colleges are 70% of the total number, the report shows that Government universities hold 68.1% of the total university student enrolment. This proves that most Indian students still depend on public-funded, affordable education.
When education becomes expensive, marginalised communities suffer the most. If we see the data carefully, the GER for Scheduled Castes (SC) is 27.8, and for Scheduled Tribes (ST) it is 22.8. Both are still below the national average of 30.0. Students from Other Backward Classes (OBC) make up 40.1% of the total enrolment.
The situation for religious minorities is also growing very slowly. The total enrolment for Muslim students in 2023–24 is 22.5 lakh. This is almost flat compared to 22.4 lakh in the previous year. Other minority communities have an enrolment of 10.8 lakh. If NEP wants to be inclusive, the government needs to focus on funding public universities instead of letting private players dominate the college market.
Jobs, Skills, and Empty Industry Promises
One of the loudest complaints about the old education system was that graduates were not employable. They had degrees, but no skills. NEP 2020 promised to fix this by strongly linking college education with industries, internships, and apprenticeships.
So, did it happen? The AISHE 2023–24 NEP module gives us a reality check.
- Only 58% of universities have signed MoUs for industry linkage.
- Only 41% of universities have an Internship Cell available.
- Only 7% of universities have an Apprenticeship Cell available.
Higher authorities might be signing MoUs on paper, but on the ground level, there is almost no infrastructure to get students into apprenticeships. If only 7% of universities have a cell to manage apprenticeships, how will millions of graduating students gain any practical industry experience? The limited institutional support for internships and apprenticeships raises questions about the extent to which NEP’s employability objectives are being translated into practice.
Research and the Global Illusion
NEP 2020 also wants to make India a "Vishwa Guru" or global knowledge hub. It stresses heavily on improving research output and international collaborations.
The report shows that 65% of universities have established a Research & Development Cell (RDC). This is a positive step. However, when it comes to international connections, the numbers drop very fast. Only 26% of Indian universities have any collaboration with Foreign Higher Education Institutions. The idea of offering Dual or Joint Degree programs with other institutes is still far from becoming common, with only 3% and 4% of universities offering them respectively.
We are also not attracting the global talent pool like NEP imagined. There are 58,134 foreign students enrolled in India. But they are not coming from top developed nations. The highest share comes from neighbouring Nepal (24.1%), followed by UAE (7.0%), USA (5.9%), and Bangladesh (5.9%). To become a global hub, Indian universities need world-class infrastructure and academic freedom, which requires massive financial investment that is currently missing.
Even the basic infrastructure in existing colleges is lacking. While 98% of colleges say they have a library, only 85% have a laboratory. More concerning is that only 51% of universities have separate toilets for disabled females. How can we talk about world-class global campuses when basic accessible infrastructure is still missing in half the universities?
Conclusion
When we put the grand vision of NEP 2020 next to the hard numbers of the AISHE 2023–24 report, it shows a very incomplete picture. Yes, the administrative wheels are turning. Portals like the Academic Bank of Credits are being created, and universities are slowly trying to update their syllabus. The rising enrollment of women is also something the whole country should be proud of.
But the structural problems are too big to ignore. Relying on private colleges to carry 70% of the institutional load is a dangerous game that hurts marginalised students. The lack of internship and apprenticeship cells shows that the gap between education and employment is still huge. And with a GER growing by just 0.5% in a year, the 50% target by 2035 is looking like an impossible mountain to climb.
(Author: Sunit Singh works as a Project Assistant at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP). The views are personal)