Comparative Analysis of Dropout Rate in Tertiary Education in Online and Offline Mode in Mumbai

Tertiary education refers to any formal post-secondary education, including public and private universities, colleges, technical training institutes, etc. There is a huge number of dropouts at secondary and higher secondary levels itself. The dropout rate among India’s youth is troubling in view of the fact that India already has the demographic dividend edge. To enable youth to pursue education, Digital India Programme has accelerated the creation of online courses from various institutes and Universities. The COVID-19 pandemic proved to be a catalyst in shifting tertiary education to online mode. This study aims to study the reasons for dropouts at the tertiary education level and explore the role of online education in mitigating this problem. A primary survey was administered in a sample of 100 individuals along with personal interviews to gather data. Statistical analysis was done to verify the significance of the data. The purpose of this paper is to analyze tertiary education in online and offline mode to verify its effectiveness in learning outcomes and skill development.