Parliament Question: Enrolment and Retention Rates of Girls in Schools

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION AND LITERACY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4910 ANSWERED ON 23/03/2026 Enrolment and Retention Rates of Girls in Schools 4910. Shri Tharaniventhan M S: Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state: (a) the current enrolment and retention rates of girls in schools under the Samagra Shiksha scheme, State/UT-wise; (b) the specific initiatives that have been implemented under Samagra Shiksha to increase the enrolment of girls, particularly at the secondary and senior secondary levels; (c) whether there are any scholarships, incentives or financial assistance programme available for girls under the Samagra Shiksha Scheme and if so, the number of girls benefitting from such financial support during each of the last one year; (d) the awareness campaigns conducted under Samagra Shiksha to promote girls' education and engage communities in supporting the education of girls; and (e) the other steps taken by the Government to ensure gender-sensitive infrastructure in schools, such as separate toilets, hygiene facilities and safe spaces to encourage girls’ attendance? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY) (a) to (e) State/UT-wise details of the current enrolment and retention rates of girls in schools under the Samagra Shiksha scheme, are at Annexure. Further, the Gender Parity Index is above 1.0 at all pedagogical structures and the dropout rate for girls is lower than that of boys. Under Samagra Shiksha, various interventions have been targeted for girls, which include opening of schools in the neighbourhood to make access easier for girls, free uniform and text-books to girls up to Class VIII, Self-Defence Training to Girls of class VI to XII of Govt. Schools, additional teachers and residential quarters for teachers in remote/hilly areas, appointment of additional teachers including women teachers, stipend @Rs. 200 per month for 10 months in a year to CWSN girls from class I to class XII, separate toilets for girls, teachers’ sensitization programs to promote girls participation, gender-sensitive teaching-learning materials including text books etc. A total number of 5.50 lakh CwSN girls received stipend during 2024-25.Further, special state specific projects for varied interventions under equity are also emphasized for enhancing access, retention and quality for girls by promoting enrolment drives, retention and motivation camps, gender sensitization modules etc. Such projects include life skills, awareness programmes, incinerators, sanitary pad vending machines etc. Under Samagra Shiksha, there is a provision of Separate toilets for girls in schools. As per UDISE+ 2024-25, 97.1% Govt. Schools have Separate toilets for girls in schools. To reduce gender gaps at all levels of school education, there is a provision of Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas (KGBVs) under Samagra Shiksha. KGBVs are residential schools from class VI to XII for girls belonging to Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Groups such as SC, ST, OBC and others. For admission in KGBVs for Grade VI, the States/UTs do awareness campaigns for enrolment of girls. In addition, under Samagra Shiksha, financial assistance is provided to States and UTs for setting up of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Avasiya Vidyalayas, construction of hostels under PM-JANMAN, construction of hostels under Dharti Aaba Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan (DAJGUA) for unsaturated ST population which includes hostel facilities for both boys and girls to improve the retention rate. National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 emphasizes the participation of community and parents in helping the child to learn appropriately and in achievement of learning outcomes. Under Samagra Shiksha, there is a provision of Community Mobilization under Quality and Innovation interventions. With the help of Community, every year enrollment drives are conducted at the beginning of the academic session for identifying and bringing out-of-school or dropout girls back into the formal educational system. Parents are informed about various provisions of Samagra Shiksha which helps to reduce financial barriers in education through awareness programs. . *****ANNEXURE ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) to (e) OF LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4910 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23rd MARCH, 2026 ASKED BY HON’BLE MP SHRI THARANIVENTHAN M S REGARDING ENROLMENT AND RETENTION RATES OF GIRLS IN SCHOOLS S. Girls Enrolment (All Mgt.) Schools (2024-25) Girls Retention Rate (All Mgt.) - 2024-25 No. State/UTs Name Upper Higher Higher Primary Secondary Primary Elementary Secondary Primary Secondary Secondary 1 Andaman and Nicobar Islands 11333 8153 5493 5381 100.0 91.2 88.3 82.5 2 1084320 657086 536012 100.0 100.0 97.6 64.3 Andhra Pradesh 1577070 3 Arunachal 38560 22562 13846 56.9 53.6 34.8 20.7 Pradesh 68780 4 902564 563519 305056 80.2 74.4 57.4 30.4 Assam 1579996 5 2863510 1435008 1055921 90.9 77.8 37.8 26.9 Bihar 4990195 6 29640 18857 19240 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 Chandigarh 37529 7 732078 425717 315689 93.7 90.5 67.6 54.7 Chhattisgarh 1199042 8 Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu 28357 17517 10368 7683 100.0 95.4 83.0 62.4 9 558822 337745 296984 100.0 100.0 87.9 90.2 Delhi 795028 10 35137 22040 19635 100.0 92.9 85.6 80.3 Goa 55203 11 1494554 777536 530767 100.0 90.4 69.3 44.8 Gujarat 2148938 12 1038381 691203 405140 338854 100.0 97.8 97.1 67.5 Haryana 13 Himachal 231618 157862 107449 93657 100.0 95.2 91.1 84.6 Pradesh 14 Jammu and 502369 272394 163376 119331 79.8 75.1 55.6 39.7 Kashmir 15 1606432 942127 570880 391784 90.6 80.8 55.3 37.2 Jharkhand 16 2460515 1508254 1002153 682353 100.0 94.9 89.2 57.8 Karnataka 17 1082658 723388 482379 446809 97.9 99.5 99.9 92.9 Kerala 18 10806 5800 4046 2856 77.6 71.9 75.6 53.3 Ladakh 19 2530 1443 895 591 92.6 100.0 100.0 100.0 Lakshadweep 20 3045523 1905758 1030466 695912 89.8 81.0 56.0 34.5 Madhya Pradesh 21 4385494 2579685 1684658 1337055 100.0 92.5 86.1 68.2 Maharashtra 22 143521 70259 43762 32536 67.3 61.6 53.0 32.0 Manipur 23 244178 115793 62675 30409 57.4 44.4 32.7 18.2 Meghalaya 24 56570 29512 19973 12836 56.7 54.0 42.9 29.1 Mizoram 25 78619 43387 27884 19513 70.7 50.8 48.5 31.9 Nagaland 26 1584653 1026516 618138 472075 100.0 92.5 76.3 56.0 Odisha 27 40420 27494 18848 17897 93.8 97.0 92.5 87.2 Puducherry 28 1003521 599694 382354 340172 100.0 94.1 80.6 71.4 Punjab 29 3182406 1992018 1153110 923047 84.9 79.6 56.9 53.5 Rajasthan 30 19593 12415 8689 7295 87.3 79.6 75.8 62.7 Sikkim 31 2214357 1485163 985466 921941 95.7 96.1 90.7 80.2 Tamil Nadu 32 1466391 906616 563682 414250 100.0 95.6 79.1 57.6 Telangana 33 139552 88433 51744 40889 100.0 87.4 71.3 53.4 Tripura 34 9142434 5423757 2693442 2392311 86.9 70.7 48.4 42.7 Uttar Pradesh 35 448659 272960 172673 159351 98.8 84.3 73.5 69.9 Uttarakhand 36 3458745 2175120 1527041 859488 86.9 89.8 77.5 56.2 West Bengal INDIA 50081416 30821906 18056854 13859426 93.4 84.2 64.2 49.6 (Source: UDISE+ 2024-25)