The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in institutions of higher education in India…

Concept. The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) measures participation in a level of education. It is the total enrolment at that level, counted regardless of the learner’s actual age, expressed as a percentage of the population in the official age group for that level. For higher education in India the reference cohort is the 18–23 year age group, so GER = (total higher-education enrolment ÷ population aged 18–23) × 100. Because the numerator ignores age, GER can exceed 100 percent at levels with many over-age or under-age learners.

Application. For this UGC NET Paper I item, the answer carried by the examination is 19 percent. India’s higher-education GER was quoted in the high teens in the statistics current when the paper was set — the All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) reported 19.4 percent for 2010–11. Applying the definition to that figure: with an 18–23 population of roughly 14 crore around 2015, a GER of about 19 percent corresponds to roughly 2 crore 66 lakh students enrolled across universities, colleges and stand-alone institutions.

Cross-check. The later AISHE rounds record a rising series, so a purely data-driven reading of “at present (2015)” is genuinely arguable:

On that series a figure in the low twenties could also be defended. For a previous-year question, however, the examining body’s own final key governs: the CBSE revised UGC NET June 2015 Paper I key (issued after grievance redressal, 29.09.2015) marks this item as 19 percent.

Result: 19 percent.