NEW DELHI: India’s education system is in a strange situation: even though there are more instructors and better school buildings than ever before, fewer students are enrolling.
The Ministry of Education’s UDISE+ 2024-25 report, which came out on Thursday, says that total school enrollment is currently 24.69 crore, which is more than 11 lakh students less than the previous school year. This is the second year in a row that the number of students has gone down, following a big decline of around 37 lakh students previous year.
But officials are not worried about the numbers. Sanjay Kumar, Secretary of the Department of School Education and Literacy, said that the trend is a result of India’s shifting population, especially the falling birth rate. He said that the enrollment numbers are based on the 2011 census, which is the denominator. The drop is a natural result of a smaller number of kids who are old enough to go to school.
The study shows that there has been a lot of development in other important areas, even though the number of students has gone down. The country has reached a big goal by hiring more than 1.01 crore school teachers, the most ever. The pupil-teacher ratio (PTR) has improved a lot. It is presently 10 in the early years and 21 in the secondary years, which is far better than the National Education Policy’s goal of 30:1.
The data also suggests that resources are being used better. The number of schools with only one teacher has gone down by 6%, and the number of schools with no students has gone down by an amazing 38%. This suggests that educational resources are being used more efficiently.
Also, the number of people who drop out is going down across the board, and the number of people who stay in school is progressively going up. For example, the percentage of kids who stay in school beyond Class 9 has gone up a little to 47.2%.
Schools have greater infrastructure than ever before. The research says that 64.7% of schools currently have computers and 63.5% can get online. Almost all schools have the basic amenities they need, like drinking water (99.3%), electricity (93.6%), and separate restrooms for girls (97.3%).
The data shows that the education system is getting better and better in terms of quality and facilities, but it is also changing to fit the fact that there are fewer students.