Reforms needed
A stark revelation has come to light which suggests that enrolment of kids in government schools across the country is witnessing a decline. According to the UDISE 2025-26 report released by the Ministry of Education, enrolment in government schools fell by nearly 86 lakh between 2023-24 and 2025-26 while private unaided recognised schools added more than 88 lakh students during the same period.
Notably, the UDISE+ (Unified District Information System for Education Plus) is the Centre’s official digital database for the education sector. The report has put numbers to a trend parents have been feeling for years.
Between 2023-24 and 2025-26, enrolment in government schools fell by nearly 86 lakh. In the same period, private unaided recognised schools added more than 88 lakh students. Overall enrolment from foundational to secondary dipped marginally by 8.26 lakh to 24.72 crore, but the real story is the migration happening within the system. This is not just a statistical adjustment. It is a vote of no-confidence, and a vote of hope, cast by millions of families.
Interestingly, the data offers clues, even if it doesn’t explain motives. While government schools lost students, the system itself got marginally better: total schools declined slightly to 14.67 lakh, but the teacher base rose to 1.03 crore.
Importantly, the pupil-teacher ratio improved from 25 to 24 and zero-enrolment schools have halved to 5,663 and single-teacher schools dropped to 1.01 lakh. The retention also improved — middle level from 82.8% to 83.7% and secondary from 47.2% to 51.9%.
So infrastructure and staffing are moving in the right direction. Yet parents are still moving out. The reason is perception and outcomes. In private schools, even low-fee ones, families see English-medium instruction, uniforms, regular classes, and a promise of competitive exams.
In many government schools, despite dedicated teachers, they still see teacher vacancies filled late, poor learning levels, and a lack of accountability. For a daily-wage parent, paying Rs 1,000 a month feels worth it if it means their child speaks English and gets discipline.
The one fact that however cannot be ignored is that the government has built schools, hired teachers, and digitized data through UDISE+. The decline in zero-enrolment and single-teacher schools proves that. But quantity is not translating into quality trust.
Secondly, the migration is squeezing the system. As 86 lakh students leave, per-child funding in many government schools will fall, even as fixed costs remain. That can trigger a vicious cycle.
Besides, the private sector is absorbing the load without corresponding regulation. An addition of 88 lakh students in private unaided schools in just two years raises questions about fee regulation, teacher training, and monitoring. Are these children getting better learning, or just better marketing?
Importantly, the 86 lakh student shift is a warning and an opportunity. A warning that public education is losing trust. An opportunity because the system still has 11.89 crore children — the largest school system in the world — and a growing teacher base to serve them.
If we fix learning in the next two years, many of those 86 lakh families will come back. Because ultimately, parents don’t prefer private schools. They prefer schools that work.
