4 Out of Every 10 Children Drop Out Without Completing Higher Secondary Education: NITI Aayog Report

Moreover, around 7,993 schools across the country have reported zero student enrolment, with the West Bengal (3,812) and Telangana (2,245) reporting the highest number of such schools.

The Wire Staff

Moreover, around 7,993 schools across the country have reported zero student enrolment, with the West Bengal (3,812) and Telangana (2,245) reporting the highest number of such schools.

4 out of every 10 children drop out without completing higher secondary education niti aayog report

Representative image of a teacher interacting with students in a school classroom. Photo: Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

New Delhi: India faces significant challenges when it comes to retaining students at the secondary level, a decadal analysis of the country’s school education system by the NITI Aayog has revealed, reported The Hindu.

The report, titled “School education system in India – temporal analysis and policy roadmap for quality Enhancement”, also flags a consistent crisis in achieving learning outcomes and highlights the “pyramidal” problem.

The education system at present resembles and sharp pyramid, wherein there are 14.71 lakh schools and 24.69 crore students. However, while there are 7.3 lakh primary schools, the number of schools decline to 1.64 lakh at higher secondary level.

The report reveals that four out of every 10 children who enter the system drop out before completing higher secondary education.

“This structural fragmentation means only 5.4% of schools offer a continuous journey from Grade 1 to 12. For the vast majority of students, moving up through the grades requires changing institutions multiple times – a hurdle that contributes to a steep attrition rate,” says the report, reported The Hindu.

“This fragmentation without any established linkage between schools for transitioning requires students to shift schools at key stages, depending on local availability, which further contributes to declining retention rates and limits the likelihood of progression to higher stages of education,” the report adds.

Moreover, around 7,993 schools across the country have reported zero student enrolment, with the West Bengal (3,812) and Telangana (2,245) reporting the highest number of such schools.

“While these schools appear operational in administrative records, they no longer serve any student population. These schools, despite zero enrolment, continue to receive financial and human resources due to the lack of updating of records, showing the difference between on-ground reality and planning,” says the report.

The report also highlights the fact that despite high enrolment, reading proficiency in Grade 8 has dropped.

While back in 2014, 74.7% of Grade 8 students could read a Grade 2 text; by 2024, that figure declined to 71.1%.

This article went live on May ninth, two thousand twenty six, at twenty minutes past five in the evening.

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