Why India Has 15 Million Fewer Students in Schools?

The Government Claims Removal of Duplicate Entries

January 3, 2025

India recorded a decline of 15 million students in schools in 2023-2024, compared to the average of the previous years, despite the addition of new institutions, according to data from the Education Ministry, which shows that enrolment dropped from an average of over 263 million to 248 million.

From the 2018-19 to 2021-22 period, enrolment averaged 263 million. The number dropped to 251 million in 2022-23 and further declined to 248 million in 2023-24, says a report by UDISE+ (Unified District Information System for Education Plus), as reported by The Indian Express.

This decline occurred despite the increase in the number of schools from 1.466 million in 2022-23 to 1.471 million in 2023-24.

The Express quoted officials as saying that new data collection methods introduced in 2022-23, which require schools to provide student-specific details such as name and Aadhaar number, may have led to removal of duplicate entries and contributed to the overall drop.

A senior official from Uttar Pradesh also attributed the reduction to the elimination of duplicate enrolments caused by “kids who would get enrolled in government schools for scholarships or other benefits, and may also have been enrolled in private schools.”

However, it may not be solely due to duplicate entries.

“The difficulties in documentation process for admission coupled with difficulties in getting pre-matric and post-matric scholarship by Other Backward Classes (OBC), Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) students prevent some students from these marginalised groups to access education,” Beena Pallical of National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights was quoted as saying.

Girl students’ enrolment dropped by around 1.6 million, while boy students fell by about 2.1 million between 2022-23 and 2023-24. SC category students declined by 1.2 million, and ST by 200,000. The number of students categorised as OBC dropped by over 2.5 million, and among all minority communities there was a combined decrease of 300,000.

A representative in Maharashtra was quoted as saying that some genuine students might be excluded for reasons such as name mismatches on Aadhaar cards and school documents, which leads to incomplete verification.

In the 2023-24, states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka witnessed a sharp decline in school enrolments. Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, which account for the highest levels of migration, recorded the most significant drops, with enrolments falling by 2.89 million and 2.14 million, respectively, as reported by News18.

Other states experiencing declines include Rajasthan (868,000), Madhya Pradesh (424,000), Karnataka (315,000), Telangana (229,000) and Haryana (230,000).

The data also revealed a mismatch between the availability of schools and student enrolments in several states.

In Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan, the percentage of schools exceeds the percentage of enrolled students. This shows “underutilisation” of resources, resulting in inefficient economies of scale.

Conversely, states like Telangana, Punjab, West Bengal, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Bihar face the opposite challenge. Here, the percentage of schools is significantly lower than the percentage of students, leading to higher student-to-school ratios.

Further, the report showed an overall improvement in the drop-out rate, which, for classes 1 to 5, declined to 3.7% in 2023-24 from 8.7% in 2022-23, and for classes 6 to 8 it went from 8.1% to 5.2%, as reported by Hindustan Times.

However, there was a sharper decline in the secondary stage (Classes IX to XII) than in the foundational or preparatory stages. The secondary level saw a reduction of 1.7 million students in 2023-24 compared to 2022-23, followed by a 900,000 drop at the foundational stage, around 700,000 at the preparatory stage (Classes II to V), and over 300,000 at the middle stage (Classes VII to VIII).

To address the decline in student enrolment, it is essential to fully enforce and potentially expand the provisions of the Right to Education (RTE) Act. The government must ensure that all children, especially those from marginalised and economically disadvantaged communities, have access to free and compulsory education up to the age of 14. The government should streamline the admission and documentation processes to eliminate barriers that prevent children from enrolling and attending school regularly.