Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan has emphasised the need to increase India’s Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher education to 50 percent by 2035 through key reforms such as curriculum redesign, faculty training, digital systems, and multidisciplinary approaches.

Speaking at a two-day Vice-Chancellors’ Conference at Ekta Nagar (formerly Kevadia) in Gujarat’s Narmada district, Pradhan highlighted the pivotal role universities must play in achieving the vision of Viksit Bharat by 2047.

Over 50 vice-chancellors of leading central universities attended the conference, which focused on evaluating and strategising the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

India’s higher education landscape has seen significant growth over the past decade, with total student enrolment reaching 4.46 crore — a 30 percent increase since 2014-15. Notably, female enrolment has risen by 38 percent, surpassing male GER, while PhD enrolment has nearly doubled, including a 136 per cent rise among female scholars. GER for Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes has increased by 10 per cent and over 8 percent respectively, reflecting the government’s commitment to inclusive education.

Pradhan also noted that more than 1,200 universities and over 46,000 colleges have been established, positioning India among the world’s largest higher education systems.

The ‘Panch Sankalpa’ of NEP 2020 would be the guiding principles for the VCs in their university, Pradhan said.

“The Panch Sankalpa or the prominent themes are Next-Gen emerging education, multidisciplinary education, innovative education, holistic education and Bharatiya education,” he said.

The minister called upon the VCs to devise changes to implement the objectives of the academic “triveni sangam” (confluence) through the objectives of celebrating the past (India’s rich heritage), calibrating the present (India’s narrative correction), and creating the future (India’s role in the global order), the release quoted Pradhan as saying.

“This would ensure understanding the past, uncovering the present and unfolding the future in the contemporary framework,” it said.

According to him, the VCs and academic leaders will reaffirm our commitment to collectively transform higher education, set the future course of NEP implementation and shape the future of education during the Chintan Shivir of VCs at the Statue of Unity in Gujarat’s Kevadiya.

“Our universities will play a key role in realising the goal of Viksit Bharat by 2047,” he said.

Pradhan called upon the participants of the meeting to prepare a strategy paper for a full implementation of NEP 2020 in every university.

Dr Vineet Joshi, secretary of the Higher Education Department, said, “NEP 2020 laid out an ambitious yet achievable vision for India’s higher education system – rooted in accessibility, equity, quality, affordability, and accountability. It reimagines our institutions not as degree-granting bodies, but as ecosystems of innovation, critical thinking, research, and holistic development.”

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