In the entire debate surrounding the proposal for reservation of 27 per cent of seats in higher education, a key question in determining the percentage of reservations in higher education has been overlooked.
Are OBCs of college-going age with the qualifying level of education under-represented in higher education to the extent of 27 per cent or more of total enrolments?
In reality, the extent of OBC under-representation is less, much less, than 5 per cent. Clearly, the proposals for 27 per cent reservation for OBCs and an across the board 54 per cent increase in enrolments are totally unjustified.
Assessments of fairness of access to higher education need to bear in mind that entry at each step in the educational pyramid is conditional on the successful completion of the preceding stage of education: a graduate degree for entry into a post-graduate programme or a higher secondary certificate or equivalent qualification for entry into an undergraduate programme, and so on down the line.
To assess whether OBCs have had a fair share in enrolments to undergraduate programmes, we need to know their share among those with a higher secondary certificate.
In 1999-2000, of OBCs in urban India in the 17-25 age group only 15 per cent had acquired a higher secondary certificate compared to 18 per cent for the total population in this age group.
This has the effect of lowering the share of OBCs among those with higher secondary certificate to 26.5 per cent compared to their 32 per cent share in the total population in the 17-25 age group.
In relation to their share among those having a higher secondary certificate or equivalent qualification 26.5 per cent in urban India and 30.7 per cent in rural India in 1999-2000, OBCs in urban India had a share of a little over 25 per cent (over 27 per cent in rural India) among those attending undergraduate programme.
Hence, they are under-represented by less than 2 percentage points (a little over 3 points in rural India) in graduate enrolments.
Even among those attending undergraduate studies in technical subjects agriculture, engineering and medicine, taken together OBC under-representation is less than 4 per cent in urban India, while in rural India they are marginally over-represented.
For enrolments for post-graduate studies, the question to ask is: What is the share of OBCs among graduates in the 20-30 age group? The answer: 19.1 per cent in urban India and 27.5 per cent in rural India.
And the proportion of OBCs currently attending post-graduate studies is 18.6 per cent in urban India and 25.5 per cent in rural India. So the extent of OBC under-representation is just 0.5 per cent in urban India and 2 per cent in rural India.
For the 28 per cent of OBCs in 'below-poverty-line' households, the extent of under-representation in enrolments for undergraduate studies is indeed higher at 7 and 13 percentage points in urban and rural India respectively.
But this is probably indicative of their poverty inhibiting their participation in higher education. However, for over 70 per cent of the non-poor OBCs, and not just for the 'creamy layer', the OBC under-representation in graduate enrolments is barely above 2 percentage points in rural India.
In urban India, the difference between their share among those with a higher secondary certificate and those attending institutions for graduate studies at 0.3 percentage point could just reflect the margin of error surrounding these estimates.
Before drawing policy inferences it is necessary to ask: Are we getting these results because of the inclusion of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu which have a history of reservations for OBCs? Briefly, the answer is no.
Exclusion of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu does indeed lower the OBC representation in higher education. However, their share in the population eligible for entry into higher education is also reduced if anything to a greater extent.
So that the gap turns out to be lower in rest of India than for India including Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
To illustrate, in urban India, excluding Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, the share of OBCs among those with a higher secondary certificate in the 17-25 age group was 22.7 per cent, and among those attending undergraduate programmes 22.1 per cent.
So the OBC under-representation is just 0.6 per cent. Our broad results stand: the extent of OBC under-representation in higher education is less, much less than 5 per cent. If anything, they are strengthened by the exclusion of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Clearly, a 27 per cent reservation of seats for OBCs, and attendant proposals to raise total enrolments by 54 per cent across the board, are totally unjustified.
In fact, a much simpler and vastly more cost-effective solution would be to work with slightly lower cut-offs for OBCs to enable them to have a higher share in the enrolments to higher education.
This will enable them to make-up for the very small deficit in their share in these enrolments relative to their share among those having the basic qualification for entry into higher education.
If the purpose of the quota is to raise the proportion of OBCs having higher education, the real solution lies at the school stage: raise the percentage of OBCs acquiring the basic qualification for entry into higher education.
Quotas in higher education divert social attention and resources away from the more difficult tasks lower down in the education pyramid.
The writer is professor of economics, Delhi School of Economics.
Are OBCs of college-going age with the qualifying level of education under-represented in higher education to the extent of 27 per cent or more of total enrolments?
In reality, the extent of OBC under-representation is less, much less, than 5 per cent. Clearly, the proposals for 27 per cent reservation for OBCs and an across the board 54 per cent increase in enrolments are totally unjustified.
Assessments of fairness of access to higher education need to bear in mind that entry at each step in the educational pyramid is conditional on the successful completion of the preceding stage of education: a graduate degree for entry into a post-graduate programme or a higher secondary certificate or equivalent qualification for entry into an undergraduate programme, and so on down the line.
To assess whether OBCs have had a fair share in enrolments to undergraduate programmes, we need to know their share among those with a higher secondary certificate.
In 1999-2000, of OBCs in urban India in the 17-25 age group only 15 per cent had acquired a higher secondary certificate compared to 18 per cent for the total population in this age group.
This has the effect of lowering the share of OBCs among those with higher secondary certificate to 26.5 per cent compared to their 32 per cent share in the total population in the 17-25 age group.
In relation to their share among those having a higher secondary certificate or equivalent qualification 26.5 per cent in urban India and 30.7 per cent in rural India in 1999-2000, OBCs in urban India had a share of a little over 25 per cent (over 27 per cent in rural India) among those attending undergraduate programme.
Hence, they are under-represented by less than 2 percentage points (a little over 3 points in rural India) in graduate enrolments.
Even among those attending undergraduate studies in technical subjects agriculture, engineering and medicine, taken together OBC under-representation is less than 4 per cent in urban India, while in rural India they are marginally over-represented.
For enrolments for post-graduate studies, the question to ask is: What is the share of OBCs among graduates in the 20-30 age group? The answer: 19.1 per cent in urban India and 27.5 per cent in rural India.
And the proportion of OBCs currently attending post-graduate studies is 18.6 per cent in urban India and 25.5 per cent in rural India. So the extent of OBC under-representation is just 0.5 per cent in urban India and 2 per cent in rural India.
For the 28 per cent of OBCs in 'below-poverty-line' households, the extent of under-representation in enrolments for undergraduate studies is indeed higher at 7 and 13 percentage points in urban and rural India respectively.
But this is probably indicative of their poverty inhibiting their participation in higher education. However, for over 70 per cent of the non-poor OBCs, and not just for the 'creamy layer', the OBC under-representation in graduate enrolments is barely above 2 percentage points in rural India.
In urban India, the difference between their share among those with a higher secondary certificate and those attending institutions for graduate studies at 0.3 percentage point could just reflect the margin of error surrounding these estimates.
Before drawing policy inferences it is necessary to ask: Are we getting these results because of the inclusion of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu which have a history of reservations for OBCs? Briefly, the answer is no.
Exclusion of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu does indeed lower the OBC representation in higher education. However, their share in the population eligible for entry into higher education is also reduced if anything to a greater extent.
So that the gap turns out to be lower in rest of India than for India including Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
To illustrate, in urban India, excluding Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, the share of OBCs among those with a higher secondary certificate in the 17-25 age group was 22.7 per cent, and among those attending undergraduate programmes 22.1 per cent.
So the OBC under-representation is just 0.6 per cent. Our broad results stand: the extent of OBC under-representation in higher education is less, much less than 5 per cent. If anything, they are strengthened by the exclusion of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Clearly, a 27 per cent reservation of seats for OBCs, and attendant proposals to raise total enrolments by 54 per cent across the board, are totally unjustified.
In fact, a much simpler and vastly more cost-effective solution would be to work with slightly lower cut-offs for OBCs to enable them to have a higher share in the enrolments to higher education.
This will enable them to make-up for the very small deficit in their share in these enrolments relative to their share among those having the basic qualification for entry into higher education.
If the purpose of the quota is to raise the proportion of OBCs having higher education, the real solution lies at the school stage: raise the percentage of OBCs acquiring the basic qualification for entry into higher education.
Quotas in higher education divert social attention and resources away from the more difficult tasks lower down in the education pyramid.
The writer is professor of economics, Delhi School of Economics.
