Parliament Question: Decline of Government Schools in Maharashtra

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-2427 ANSWERED ON 03.08.2026 Decline of Government Schools in Maharashtra 2427. Dr. Bachhav Shobha Dinesh: Adv Gowaal Kagada Padavi: Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government is aware of the decline in the number of Government schools and student enrolment in the country during the last ten years, if so, the details thereof; (b) the number of Government schools closed, merged or converted during the said period, State/UT-wise and language-medium-wise especially for Marathi-medium schools in Maharashtra; (c) whether the Government has undertaken any assessment of the impact of such schools on access to education in the mother tongue, particularly in rural and semi-urban areas of Maharashtra, if so, the details thereof; (d) whether any evaluation has been conducted to examine as to whether policy measures relating to school rationalisation, infrastructure gaps, teacher vacancies and shifting enrolment patterns have contributed to this trend, if so, the details thereof; and (e) the details of steps taken or proposed to be taken by the Government to arrest the decline and strengthen regional language education including Marathi-medium schools in Maharashtra with measurable targets and timelines? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY) (a) to (e): The total number of government schools in the country and State/UTs including Maharashtra from year 2016-17 to 2025-26 are at annexure-I. As per UDISE+, Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) at Upper Primary (VI-VIII), Secondary (IX-X) and Higher Secondary (XI-XII) for the year 2016-17 is 88.1, 76.4 and 43.8 respectively and for the year 2025-26 is 89.6, 81.5 and 61.7 respectively. Education is in the Concurrent list of the Constitution and the opening, closing and rationalisation of schools are within the purview of respective State/UT Governments. The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 provides for children’s access to elementary schools within the defined area or limits of neighbourhood. In pursuance to Section 6 of the RTE Act, all States have notified area or limits of their neighbourhood norms. Further, Section 8 of the RTE Act, 2009 also mandates that the appropriate government shall provide free and compulsory elementary education to every child and will ensure availability of neighbourhood schools.As per the data available on UDISE+, advancements have been made in improving universal access across all levels of school education. This is evidenced by Gross Access Ratio (GAR) for 2018-19 and 2024-25: Year Primary Upper Primary Secondary Higher Secondary 2018-19 97.15 96.49 88.24 65.05 2024-25 97.83 96.57 95.35 94.97 GAR: Gross access ratio (GAR) is total villages/habitations having school within specified norm in a year out of total villages/habitations in that year. 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 skill education and ICT facilities in schools, providing free text books and free uniform, transport/escort facility, etc. PM SHRI Scheme has also been launched with an aim to develop more than 14,500 selected schools as exemplar schools that offer leadership to other schools in the neighbourhood, showcasing all the initiatives of NEP 2020. ******Annexure-I ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (A) TO (E) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2427 ANSWERED ON 03/08/2026 ASKED BY HONB’LE MP’S DR. BACHHAV SHOBHA DINESH AND ADV GOWAAL KAGADA PADAVI REGARDING ‘DECLINE OF GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS IN MAHARASHTRA’ State/UT-wise number of Government schools from the year 2016-17 to 2020-21 Government schools State/UT/India 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 India 1101371 1094543 1083747 1032570 1032049 Andaman & Nicobar Islands 344 339 339 342 342 Andhra Pradesh 44700 44896 45013 45115 45145 Arunachal Pradesh 3459 3447 3179 3056 3061 Assam 53042 50965 47223 47157 46749 Bihar 74908 73528 72630 72610 75555 Chandigarh 116 121 121 121 121 Chhattisgarh 47216 48848 48671 48547 48619 Dadra & Nagar Haveli 301 300 300 300 407 Daman & Diu 119 115 112 109 2751 Delhi 2791 2787 2784 2767 821 Goa 873 846 833 827 34967 Gujarat 35122 35152 35202 35040 14563 Haryana 14483 14450 14516 14484 15391 Himachal Pradesh 15489 15465 15433 15398 23167 Jammu & Kashmir 23855 23904 24080 23165 35888 Jharkhand 40014 39703 35954 35931 49791 Karnataka 49883 50066 50184 49834 5020 Kerala 5073 4783 5011 5014 915 Ladakh - - - 913 45 Lakshadweep 45 45 45 45 99152 Madhya Pradesh 122880 122653 122056 99411 65734 Maharashtra 67154 66750 66033 65886 2878 Manipur 3323 3037 3073 2876 7795 Meghalaya 7793 7805 7802 7799 2558 Mizoram 2595 2582 2564 2552 1975 Nagaland 2097 2080 2007 2011 50256 Odisha 58052 56313 55483 53260 422 Puducherry 424 424 423 422 19330 Punjab 20568 19515 19404 19377 68813 Rajasthan 68039 66943 67607 67660 851 Sikkim 874 853 854 851 37589 Tamil Nadu 38307 37634 37728 37579 30015 Telangana 29427 29845 29822 30001 4265 Tripura 4320 4314 4309 4275 137068 Uttar Pradesh 162927 163114 163142 137638 16651 Uttarakhand 17753 17629 16934 16741 83379 West Bengal 83005 83292 82876 83456 2020-21 Source: UDISE+Annexure-I (Cont.) State/UT-wise number of Government schools from the year 2021-22 to 2025-26 (cont.) Government schools State/UT/India 2021-22 2022-23 2023-24 2024-25 2025-26 India 1022386 1016010 1017660 1013322 1005245 Andaman & Nicobar Islands 342 342 340 335 335 Andhra Pradesh 45137 45167 45000 44886 44222 Arunachal Pradesh 2985 2922 2847 2558 2468 Assam 45490 44925 45008 44741 44550 Bihar 75558 75550 78120 76320 76435 Chandigarh 123 119 119 118 116 Chhattisgarh 48743 48728 48803 48827 48853 Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu 388 387 360 361 353 Delhi 2762 2673 2693 2681 2688 Goa 814 806 789 780 771 Gujarat 34699 34651 34597 34638 34734 Haryana 14562 14443 14374 14338 14338 Himachal Pradesh 15380 15447 15217 14725 14460 Jammu & Kashmir 23173 18785 18785 18785 18787 Jharkhand 35840 35764 35795 35788 35819 Karnataka 49679 49520 49306 48844 48527 Kerala 5010 4811 4809 4808 4809 Ladakh 838 841 841 812 733 Lakshadweep 38 37 37 36 34 Madhya Pradesh 92695 92741 92439 92250 91199 Maharashtra 65639 65431 65157 64884 64571 Manipur 2889 2922 2934 2952 2934 Meghalaya 7783 7778 7779 7789 5620 Mizoram 2563 2567 2587 2617 2613 Nagaland 1960 1954 1952 1936 1902 Odisha 49072 48767 48671 48625 48603 Puducherry 422 422 420 419 419 Punjab 19259 19245 19242 19243 19241 Rajasthan 68948 69538 70233 70155 69983 Sikkim 864 864 864 857 829 Tamil Nadu 37636 37658 37672 37626 37539 Telangana 30023 29997 30022 30057 28088 Tripura 4262 4245 4238 4187 4144 Uttar Pradesh 137024 137003 137102 137172 137103 Uttarakhand 16484 16381 16201 16018 15834 West Bengal 83302 82579 82307 82154 81591 Source: UDISE+