Student enrolments in post-secondary and tertiary institutions during the academic year 2020-2021 increased by 3.3 per cent over the preceding academic year, totalling 27,944, the NSO said in a statement.
According to official data, the number of post-secondary students enrolled in sixth forms and other post-secondary institutions totalled 9,608 during the 2020-2021 academic year. This marked a decrease of 0.1 per cent over the previous academic year.
The largest proportion of post-secondary students (88.4 per cent) were aged 19 years and under while foreign students enrolled in such institutions amounted to 1,150, accounting for 12.0 per cent of the total number of students.
The vast majority of students at the post-secondary level were enrolled in state-run institutions (85.8 per cent). Half of the students were enrolled in general orientation, whereas the other half in vocational orientation.
The most popular field of study among vocational students was ‘Services’ (22.7 per cent), followed by ‘Engineering, manufacturing and construction (16.3 per cent) and ‘Business, administration and law’ (14.6 per cent).
Tertiary students
Students enrolled in tertiary level courses numbered 18,336 during the academic year under review, an increase of 5.2 per cent when compared to the previous year.
Female students made up 59.1 per cent of the total students enrolled at tertiary level. The number of students at this level who were studying on a full-time basis amounted to 11,995, or 65.4 per cent of the total. Part-time enrolments showed an increase of 9.4 per cent over the previous academic year.
The largest proportion of tertiary students (50.8 per cent) were engaged in courses at ISCED level 6 (Bachelor’s or equivalent), followed by ISCED level 7 (Master’s or equivalent) at 33 per cent.
Most tertiary students were aged between 20 and 24 years (39.1 per cent), followed by those under 20 years (17.6 per cent). Female students outnumbered their male counterparts at all tertiary ISCED levels.
Foreign students following courses at tertiary level institutions totalled 3,233, equivalent to 17.6 per cent of all tertiary enrolments. This marked an increase of 1.1 percentage points over the previous academic year.
At the tertiary level, the most popular fields of study were ’Business, administration and law’ with 4,927 students or 26.9 per cent of the total, and ‘Health and welfare’ with 3,291 students or 17.9 per cent of the total. The least popular fields of study at the tertiary level were ‘Generic programmes and qualifications not further defined’ with only 4 students and ‘Agriculture, forestry, fisheries and veterinary’ scoring an uptake of only 0.4 per cent.