Parliament Question: Decline in Government school enrolment

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-3716 ANSWERED ON 25.03.2026 Decline in Government school enrolment 3716 Shri Sant Balbir Singh: Will the Minister of Education be pleased to state: (a) key reasons identified by Government for a large number of children leaving Government schools and moving to private schools; (b) whether any study, survey has been conducted to analyze causes of declining enrolment in Government schools and the findings of such studies; and (c) policy responses or corrective actions planned or implemented to retain students in Government schools, improve confidence among parents and make public education more attractive and competitive? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY) (a) to (c): As per Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+), the enrolment in government and private schools from the year 2022-23 to 2024-25 are given below: Enrolment (pre-primary to Higher Secondary) Year Total Government Private 2022-23 251791722 136204917 84162385 2023-24 248045828 127490199 90036939 2024-25 246932680 121589911 95856710 Education is in the concurrent list of the Constitution and majority of the schools are under the domain of respective State and UT Government. The Department of School Education and Literacy is implementing Samagra Shiksha, an integrated scheme for school education in 2018-19 covering the entire gamut from pre-school to class XII. The scheme has also been aligned with the recommendations of National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 to ensure that all children have access to quality education with an equitable and inclusive classroom environment which should take care of their diverse background, multilingual needs, different academic abilities and make them active participants in the learning process. The Central Government assist States and UTs through the Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Samagra Shiksha and hot cooked meal provided from Balvatika to class 8 under Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) Yojna. Financial assistance/grant is also provided to the States and UTs for various activities to reduce dropout and increase enrolment in Government schools, which include opening/strengthening of new schools up to Senior Secondary level, strengthening school infrastructure, setting up and up gradation and running of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBV) upto class 12, setting up of residential schools/hostels named Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Avasiya Vidyalayas, hostels under Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan (PM-JANMAN) and Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DAJGUA), transport allowance, undertaking enrolment drives, seasonal hostels/residential camps, provision of vocational education and ICT facilities in schools, providing free text books and free uniform, transport/escort facility, etc. ******