Increase in Higher Education Institutions and Primary Education Enrollment: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Economic Survey 2025-26 on Thursday. During the presentation, she highlighted significant progress in the school and higher education sectors. The Finance Minister stated that India operates one of the largest school education systems in the world.

Under this system, 1.471 million schools provide education to 246.9 million students. Over 10.1 million teachers support this system. Steady progress has been observed across all school levels in line with the NEP target of achieving 100% Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) from pre-primary to secondary education by 2030.

Growth in Higher Education Institutions and Student Enrollment

The Finance Minister stated that the number of higher education institutions (HEIs) increased from 51,534 in 2014-15 to 70,018 in June 2025. This growth was mainly due to a significant increase in the number of universities and colleges. The number of premier higher education institutions also saw substantial growth between 2014-15 and 2024-25. Student enrollment rose from 43.3 million in 2021-22 to 44.6 million in 2022-23.

She added that the survey highlights achievements in education, including increased literacy rates, higher enrollment in schools and HEIs and the provision of vocational education. Programs such as Poshan Shakti Nirman and Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan have enhanced access and equity in education. The Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) is as follows: primary level 90.9, upper primary 90.3, secondary 78.7 and higher secondary 58.4.

The Economic Survey stated that India now has 23 IITs, 21 IIMs, and 20 AIIMS. Additionally, two international IIT campuses were launched in Zanzibar and Abu Dhabi. Under the Academic Bank of Credit, 2,660 institutions have been included and over 46 million identity cards have been issued.

The Finance Minister noted that to achieve the NEP target of 50% GER by 2035, 153 universities have introduced flexible entry and exit systems and allow two admissions per year. Indian higher education institutions are twinning with prestigious foreign universities, offering joint and dual degrees. Furthermore, 15 foreign higher education institutions are expected to establish campuses in India.

Promoting Employability

According to the Economic Survey, structured skill-building facilities are being provided in secondary schools to ensure early availability of employable skills. The survey highlighted that to transform India’s vast human resource into high-quality human capital, it is necessary to increase the years of schooling.

The school system for ages 3 to 18 needs to extend to 15 years under the NEP 5+3+3+4 model. This requires a holistic and life-cycle approach that ensures seamless integration of early childhood education, foundational literacy and numeracy (FLN), universal secondary schooling, and vocational and digital skills.

The Economic Survey stated that government initiatives have led to significant improvements in GER. These include the establishment of 13,076 PM Shree schools across 33 states and union territories, and 299,544 schools and Anganwadi centers to strengthen the integrated early childhood care and education (ECCE) system for universal access to quality education.

Programs such as Jadoo Ki Pitara, E-Jadoo Ki Pitara, Kitab Ek Padhe Anek and the Indian Language Book Scheme have provided children with educational materials in local languages. India has made significant progress in school enrollment by strengthening infrastructure and teacher capacity. Programs such as Poshan Shakti Nirman and Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan are promoting access and equity in education.

The Finance Minister noted that integrating structured skill pathways in secondary schools can make education more relevant, provided employable skills are quickly made available and schools are transformed into lifelong learning centers.

According to PLFS 2023-24, only 0.97% of youth aged 14-18 received formal institutional training, while approximately 92% of youth did not receive any training. Closing this gap is crucial to fully utilize India’s demographic dividend.

Skill education in schools will equip youth with market-relevant skills, especially in the service sector, which provides employment to more than half of formally trained youth. Linking education with economic opportunities will also reduce school dropout rates. Meanwhile, UGC and AICTE have introduced the “Professor of Practice” category in higher education institutions, allowing the expansion of faculty resources in these institutions.