Ranking of the States of India Based on Higher Education Development Indicators

Abstract

Quality education fosters creativity and knowledge, and ensures the acquisition of the foundational skills of literacy and numeracy as well as analytical, problem solving and other high-level cognitive, interpersonal and social skills. It includes equitable and increased access to quality technical and vocational education and training and higher education and research, with due attention to quality assurance. The provision of flexible learning pathways, as well as the recognition, validation and accreditation of the knowledge, skills and competencies acquired through non-formal and informal education, is important. It is also committed to strengthening science, technology and innovation. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) must be harnessed to strengthen education systems, knowledge dissemination, information access, quality and effective learning, and more effective service provision. According to the UNESCO report 2015, indicators will be based on five criteria: relevance, alignment with the concepts in the target, feasibility for regular (but not necessarily annual) data collection across countries, ease of communication to a global audience, and interpretability. An attempt has been made to quantify the higher education development using the indicators in the line of UNESCO Education 2030 agenda. Thereby, the states have been ranked.