Education in Uttaranchal – An Introduction
Uttaranchal or Uttarakhand – literally means north part of the country. It is called “The Land of The Gods” or by some as “The Switzerland of India”. The state is a virtual tourist’s paradise. The mighty snow clad Himalayas, the flowing rivers and the innumerable temples and holy shrines dotting the state really make it unique place. Skiing, trekking, rafting, camping, paragliding, mountain biking are the innumerable sports which one can undertake. The culture and the people are as diverse as the landscape. All the local traditions are determinedly attached to nature and its bounty. As per 2011 census the population of Uttaranchal was 10.09 million, of which the male population was 5.14 million and female population was 4.95 million. The literacy rate of Uttaranchal was 78.82%, of which the male literacy is 87.40% and female literacy is 67.06%. The sex ratio of Uttaranchal was 963 females per 1000 males, which is much above the national average of 940.
School Education in Uttaranchal
Read about Education in Uttaranchal
There are 15790 primary schools, 923 middle schools and 3587 secondary schools in Uttaranchal with a total enrollment of 1.74 million students. Some of the best educational institutes of India are located in Uttaranchal. Dehradun, Nainital and Mussoorie are still the preferred choices when it comes to school education. These 3 cities are the home of various ancient and heritage schools in the country some of which have been running since British period. The government has introduced necessary steps to make the children school-bound and also to attract the drop-outs back to their schools. Uttaranchal education received a fillip after the government introduced Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in secondary education. The department of education, Uttaranchal, has attained the target of computerizing all 1,700 government high schools and government inter-colleges (GICs) in the state, providing at least four computers per school. The medium of education is either in English or Hindi. The schools are affiliated with CBSE, CISCE or the State Government Syllabus defined as per the Department of Education, Uttaranchal Government.
Higher Education in Uttaranchal
Uttaranchal is virtually emerging as an education hub. Uttaranchal has 1 central university, 10 state universities, 3 deemed universities, 10 private universities and 4 autonomous institutions of national importance. At present there are two Universities Kumaon University and Garhwal University for imparting General Education in the State. They have five University campuses and 102 Colleges. The Uttarakhand Technical Universiy is the only affiliating University of the state running various private and Govt. institutions. There are 4 Constituent and 138 technical and professional affiliated colleges with 50,000 students in various courses. Dehradun and education are synonymous and this is the reason of the concentration of educational institutions in the city. There has been a phenomenal boom in the education sector in Uttaranchal as in the past eight years as there has been a threefold increase in the number of engineering and management institutes in Dehradun. Industry interface transpires due to the thriving tourism industry and good employment prospects prevail due to close proximity to Delhi, Himachal and Haryana states.
Education in Uttaranchal – Future
Uttaranchal is an evolving destination for education for aspiring students both for school and higher education sectors coupled with an ideal envoirnment.