The Ministry of Education has classified 30 Districts of Rajasthan under the educationally backward districts (EBD). Only 3 districts – Jaipur, Kota and Pratapgarh did not feature in the list of the EBD. Rajasthan is the only state whose 90% of districts have appeared in the ‘grey’ list of education.
This was disclosed by Minister of Education, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan in Lok Sabha in answer to a starred question. As per the reply, an Expert Committee constituted by the University Grants Commission (UGC) had identified 374 Educationally Backward Districts (EBDs) based on various educational parameters including Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER), College population Ratio and average enrolment per college.
Rajasthan’s GER was 24.1%, while the national average was 27.1%. The GER is defined as the percentage of the population in the age group of 18-23 enrolled in any of the higher education institutes.
The report is contrary to the fact that the state has the highest number of 89 universities and the fourth-highest number of 3,380 colleges in the country. The figure of 37 colleges per lakh is also better than the national average but still, 90% of the districts have failed the match the national average.
| State | Educationally Backward Districts (EBDs) |
|---|---|
| Rajasthan | Ajmer, Alwar, Banswara, Baran, Barmer, Bharatpur, Bhilwara, Bikaner, Bundi, Chittaurgharh, Churu, Dausa, Dhaulpur, Dungarpur, Ganganagar, Hanumangarh, Jaisalmer, Jalor, Jhalawar, Jhunjhunun, Jodhpur, Karauli, Nagaur, Pali, Rajsamand, SawaiMadhopur, Sikar, Sirohi, Tonk, Udaipur |
| Total Number – 30 |
As per ToI news report, “the assessment based on three parameters is unfair for the biggest state like Rajasthan. Here the population is scattered and sparsely distributed making it difficult for the transition from schools to colleges. The enrolment of women in the state has traditionally been poor leading to the overall decline in the GER and lastly, the high rate of migration among the families especially youths make it obvious to lower down the GER,”
