Which of the following pairs is correctly matched?

Answer & explanation

Correct answer: option 1

The correct answer is Option (1) → Indian education pyramid – Steep, with fewer people at each higher level

The Indian education pyramid is steep: fewer and fewer people reach the higher levels of education.

Option (1) Indian education pyramid – Steep, with fewer people at each higher level — Correct. A steep pyramid shows lesser and lesser numbers going up.

Option (2) Unemployment among youth (2011–12) – Lowest among those with graduation and above — Incorrect. Unemployment was highest among educated youth.

Option (3) Tertiary education – Elementary schools up to Class VIII — Incorrect. Tertiary education means colleges, polytechnics and universities.

Option (4) Most severely affected by unemployment (2011–12) – Young urban male graduates — Incorrect. The worst hit were young rural female graduates; urban males had the lower rate.

NCERT (2026-27): “Higher Education — a Few Takers: The Indian education pyramid is steep, indicating lesser and lesser number of people reaching the higher education level. Moreover, the level of unemployment among educated youth is the highest. As per NSSO data, in the year 2011-12, the rate of unemployment among youth males who studied graduation and above in rural areas was 19 per cent. Their urban counterparts had relatively less level of unemployment at 16 per cent. The most severely affected ones were young rural female graduates as nearly 30 per cent of them are unemployed. …”

“Growth in Government Expenditure on Education: … Elementary education takes a major share of total education expenditure and the share of the higher/tertiary education (institutions of higher learning like colleges, polytechnics and universities) is the least. …”