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India’s school enrolment dropped by 11 lakh in 2024-25, yet the share of girls increased, according to the latest UDISE+ report.
India’s school enrolment dips by 11 lakh in 2024-25, but more girls join classrooms.
India’s school enrolment fell by 11 lakh students in 2024-25, despite the country adding more teachers than ever before, according to the latest UDISE+ report released by the Ministry of Education on Thursday. Total enrolment now stands at 24.69 crore, down from 24.80 crore in 2023-24. This marks the second consecutive year of decline, after a drop of nearly 37 lakh students in 2023-24, when enrolment fell from 25.17 crore to 24.80 crore.
India’s schools are witnessing a paradox—while the country has added more teachers than ever before, the number of students enrolled has fallen for the second year in a row. The fall in enrolment comes despite the education system achieving a milestone of more than 1.01 crore school teachers, the highest ever, compared to 98 lakh last year.
| Year | Total Enrolment (cr) | Govt Schools (cr) | Private Schools (cr) | Govt-aided Schools (cr) |
| 2024-25 | 24.69 | 12.16 | 9.59 | 2.48 |
| 2023-24 | 24.80 | 12.75 | 9.00 | 2.55 |
| 2022-23 | 25.18 | 13.62 | 8.42 | 2.62 |
| 2021-22 | 26.52 | 14.32 | 8.83 | 2.70 |
| 2020-21 | 26.44 | 13.49 | 9.52 | 2.68 |
| 2019-20 | 26.45 | 13.09 | 9.82 | 2.75 |
| 2018-19 | 26.03 | 13.11 | 9.22 | 2.80 |
Decline Concentrated In Early Years
The steepest decline was in the early years of education. Total enrolment of students aged between three and 11, covering anganwadi, pre-school, and Classes 1 to 5, dropped by nearly 25 lakh in 2024-25 compared to 2023-24, according to the UDISE+ 2024-25 data.
The UDISE+ 2023-24 report showed 12.09 crore students enrolled in foundational and preparatory stages, which declined to 11.84 crore students in 2024-25, a dip of 24.93 lakh.
Officials attributed the decline to India’s changing demographics. The country’s total fertility rate (TFR) fell from 2.8 in 2006 to 2.0 in 2022, according to Sample Registration System data.
“The decline may largely be attributed to demographic shifts with falling birth rates in primary school-age population. It could also be explained by children attending pre-primary standalone private institutions,” an education ministry official said.
Student Enrolment In Secondary Schools Up By 2%
Enrolment in secondary schools has gone up by 2 percent. This comes after a decline noted in the January report. The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) at the secondary level improved from 66.5% in 2023–24 to 68.5% in 2024–25.
Gross Enrolment Ratio Shows Improvement
Even though the total number of students in schools has dropped, the overall GER has increased.
- At the middle level, GER rose from 89.5% in 2023–24 to 90.3% in 2024–25.
- At the secondary level, GER increased from 66.5% to 68.5%.
- Dropout rates also went down:
- Preparatory stage: 3.7% to 2.3%
- Middle school: 5.2% to 3.5%
- Secondary school: 10.9% to 8.2%
Girls’ Enrolment Rises Despite Overall Drop
While the total number of students has decreased, the number of girls enrolled has increased by 32,925. On the other hand, boys’ enrolment dropped by 1.15 million. As a result, girls now account for 48.3% of all school students, compared to 48.1% last year.
The ministry said this reflects efforts to “promote gender equity and expand access for girls.”
The number of women teachers has also gone up. They now make up 54.2% of India’s 10.1 million teachers, compared to 53.3% last year when the workforce stood at 9.8 million.
ALSO READ: Number Of School Teachers Cross 1 Cr Mark For The First Time: UDISE+ Report
More Teachers And Better Infrastructure
The rise in teacher numbers has sharply improved the pupil-teacher ratio (PTR). It is now 10 in foundational years, 13 in preparatory, 17 in middle, and 21 in secondary, well ahead of the National Education Policy’s target of 30:1.
The number of single-teacher schools has fallen by 6%, while zero-enrolment schools have dropped by 38%, pointing to better rationalisation of resources.
Infrastructure has also improved steadily. About 64.7% of schools now have computers, up from 57.2%, and 63.5% have internet access, up from 53.9%. Nearly all schools have drinking water (99.3%), electricity (93.6%), and gender-specific toilets (97.3% for girls, 96.2% for boys).
Officials said the data shows an education system that is expanding in quality and infrastructure while facing the reality of a shrinking student population.
Archit Gupta is a Chief Sub-Editor at News18.com and a seasoned education journalist specialising in reporting on education and employment. He has covered a variety of education-related stories, including high-…Read More
Archit Gupta is a Chief Sub-Editor at News18.com and a seasoned education journalist specialising in reporting on education and employment. He has covered a variety of education-related stories, including high-… Read More
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