Kolkata: The state government has significantly ramped up investments in education infrastructure—both at the school level and in higher education—by establishing new colleges and universities while also pushing digital education in a big way, leading to visible positive changes, said Binod Kumar, principal secretary of the Education department.
Speaking at the 9th edition of EduMeet 2025, organised by Assocham, Kumar said: “In the last 14-15 years, the kind of work the state government has undertaken is substantial.
The school education budget, which stood at Rs 829 crore in 2010–11, has increased to Rs 10,260 crore in 2024–25. Similarly, the higher education budget has grown from Rs 1,724 crore to Rs 6,404 crore.”
He noted that the number of universities in the state has risen from 12 in 2010–11 to 46 at present, comprising 31 state universities and 15 private ones. The number of higher education institutions has nearly doubled—from 1,056 to 2,049—while 7,260 schools have been added in the last 12–13 years, taking the total to 57,690.
Kumar further highlighted that the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) has increased from 13.24 lakh in 2010–11 to 27.22 lakh now.
Gender parity has also improved, rising from 42 per cent to 50 per cent.
Highlighting international collaboration opportunities, Andrew Fleming, British Deputy High Commissioner to East and Northeast India, said the UK and India share vast potential for partnerships in education.
The UK reportedly issued between 1.3 to 1.4 lakh student visas to Indians last year.
“Students going to the UK benefit from the graduate visa route. I believe 43,000 graduate route visas were granted to Indians in the year ending March 2024. That’s a significant number and it’s clearly one of the reasons more Indian students are choosing the UK,” Fleming said.