Government schools educate half 24.6 crore students in the country – Ministry data

India boasts one of the largest public education systems, with nearly half of its 24.69 crore students from pre-primary to higher secondary level studying in government-run schools, according to the Ministry of Education data.

In the year 2024-25, the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE) recorded 14.71 lakh schools spread all over the country employing more than 1 crore teachers. For the first time, the number of schoolteachers in India has exceeded one crore, representing a robust 6.7% year-on-year rise compared to 2022-23.

The number of students enrolled in government schools stood at 12.1 crore or 49% of all students in the country. Meanwhile, a further 2.4 crore pupils (10%) were enrolled in government-aided schools.

One of the key reasons behind government schools attracting such a huge chunk of the student population can be attributed to their numbers. Of the total number of schools, government schools alone make up nearly two-thirds share (68.7) with 10.1 lakh schools delivering primary, upper primary, secondary and higher secondary education up to 12^th standard.

However, the number of government schools providing higher education all the way up to 12^th standard is merely 7%, or 70,857, while the majority of them cater to providing primary and secondary level education.

States with the highest number of schools

States such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Assam, J&K, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Meghalaya, the percentage of schools available is more than the percentage of students enrolled, implying underutilisation of available schools, leading to suboptimal economy of scale.

Whereas in states like Punjab, West Bengal, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Bihar and Kerala, the percentage of available schools is significantly less as compared to enrolled students, indicating more students per school.

Availability of the right mix of schools at all levels, being a supply variable in the education system, largely influences the demand factor, the report said. Though a large number of primary schools have been established post-RTE, the commensurate increase in schools at secondary and higher secondary levels has not come up.

For example, West Bengal has 79% primary schools with 48% students and only 3.5% secondary schools, whereas in Chandigarh, 45% of schools are higher secondary schools and only 6.1% are primary schools, according to the report.

Digital initiatives and infrastructure

The National Education Policy recommends providing adequate and safe infrastructure, including boundary wall, working toilets, clean drinking water, clean and attractive spaces, electricity, computing devices, internet, libraries, and sports and recreational resources.

Clean drinking water is available in almost all schools (99.3%), while electricity in schools is now nearly universal, with 93.6% of schools having access to full-time electricity. Meanwhile, almost 97% of the schools have functioning girls’ and boys’ toilets.

Digital access across schools has improved significantly, with the percentage of schools with computers standing at 64.7%, while those with internet access stood at 63.5% in 2024-25.

Meanwhile, across educational stages, dropout rates have dropped. For primary education, it stood at 0.3%, while upper primary and secondary levels, the dropout levels were 3.5% and 11.5%, respectively.