The enrolment of girl students in AICTE-approved technical institutions during the academic years 2014-15 and 2015-16 was 42.21 and 46.60 per cent respectively while in IITs it was just eight per cent in 2015-16, the government said on Friday.

 Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar said this in a written reply in Rajya Sabha. He also said that a three-member committee is working on a report to suggest measures to improve the number of girls in IITs.

 Replying to another question, Minister of State MahendraNath Pandey said that as per the All India Survey for HigherEducation (AISHE) data, 69,862 PhDs have been awarded in three year period from 2013-14 to 2015-16.

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Pandey, to another question, said that registration of students in higher education is measured in terms of total enrolment in higher education out of the eligible population in the age group of 18-23 years.

Total enrolment in higher education as percentage of the population in the 18-23 years age group is defined as GrossEnrolment Ratio (GER). As per the AISHE report, GER in higher education during 2015-16 was 24.5 per cent as compared to 10 per cent in2004-05, the minister said.