Tertiary education
Also called: Higher education · Topic: Human Capital: Education, Health and Demographic Dividend · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 4 "Human Capital Formation in India"
Meaning
Tertiary education is education after school, in colleges, polytechnics and universities. It produces doctors, engineers, researchers and the teachers who staff the schools. In India it gets the smallest share of public education spending, has relatively few students and has high unemployment among graduates. Spending per student, however, is highest at this level.
Example
AISHE 2021-22 put India's higher-education Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) at 28.4%. The GER is the number enrolled as a share of the population in the relevant age group. NEP 2020 targets a GER of 50% by 2035. NSSO data for 2011-12 showed unemployment of nearly 30% among rural female graduates, compared with about 3–6% among youth with only primary education.
Don't confuse with
- Vocational education: this is training for a specific trade and can be given in school. Tertiary education is a level of study, not a type of training.
Related concepts
- Literacy rate
- Adult literacy rate
- Educational attainment
- Gender equity in education
- Education pyramid
- School dropouts