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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 519
ANSWERED ON 04.02.2026
Implementation of the National Education Policy
519 # Dr. Sandeep Kumar Pathak:
Will the Minister of Education be pleased to state:
(a) the concrete improvements made so far in the quality, access and equality of school and higher
education in the country since the implementation of the National Education Policy, 2020, the year-
wise and State-wise, details thereof;
(b) whether Government has any official data on the enrolment rate, dropout rate and learning
outcomes of students from rural, tribal and Economically Weaker Sections reflecting changes after
2020, if so, the details thereof; and
(c) whether several provisions of the policy have not been fully implemented so far and if so, the
pending provisions and the main reasons for the delay?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION
(DR. SUKANTA MAJUMDAR)
(a) and (b): After announcement of National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020), a series of
significant initiatives have been undertaken both in School Education as well as in Higher
Education.
According to Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE +) 2024-25, India’s
school education system saw measurable improvements across key educational indicators. It has
data with nearly 14.72 lakh schools and nearly 24.7 Crore students from Foundational to Secondary
level from varied socio-economic backgrounds. The number of teachers increased from 98.07 lakh
to 1.01 crore, with total 54.82 lakh female teachers, reflecting a more gender-balanced workforce.
The Pupil Teacher Ratio improved at all levels in 2024–25. The ratios now stand at 10 at the
foundational level, 13 at the preparatory level, 17 at the middle level, and 21 at the secondary level.
These ratios are stronger than the NEP norm of 1:30, supporting closer attention to each student and
better learning outcomes. The academic year 2024–25 has seen a notable reduction in dropout rates
across the Preparatory (from 3.7% to 2.3%), Middle (from 5.2% to 3.5%), and Secondary levels
(from 10.9% to 8.2%) as compared to 2023-24. Student retention improved across all levels in 2024–
25. The foundational level increased from 98.0 percent to 98.9 percent. The preparatory level
increased from 85.4 percent to 92.4 percent. The middle level increased from 78.0 percent to 82.8percent. The secondary level increased from 45.6 percent to 47.2 percent. The academic year 2024–
25 recorded an increase in the Gross Enrolment Ratio at the middle and secondary levels. The middle
level rose from 89.5 percent to 90.3 percent. The secondary level rose from 66.5 percent to 68.5
percent. This growth reflects enhanced access to education and increased student participation in
higher grades.
Department of School Education & Literacy has developed Performance Grading Index, State (PGI)
by combining 73 indicators from various domains of school education viz., learning outcomes,
access outcomes, infrastructure, facilities, equity outcomes, etc. The PGI-State reports for the year
from 2017-18 to 2023-24 can be accessed at https://pgi.udiseplus.gov.in/#/statepgi/home. Similarly,
Performance Grading Index, District is a district-level assessment tool which is used to compare
and improve school education outcomes in a decentralized manner. It covers outcomes, classroom
processes, infrastructure, safety, digital learning, and governance. The PGI-District reports for the
year from 2018-19 to 2023-24 can be accessed at https://dpgi.udiseplus.gov.in/#aboutPgi .
“PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024” was conducted across India on 04.12.2024, to understand
the baseline performance in development of competencies among the students at the end of the
Foundational, Preparatory, and Middle stages (Grades 3, 6, and 9 respectively). Nationwide over
21.15 lakh students and 2.70 lakh teachers from more than 74,229 schools across 781 districts from
all States/UTs participated in the survey. National, State and District level report cards for PARAKH
Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024 are available at https://dashboard.parakh.ncert.gov.in/en.
In higher education, an annual web based ‘All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE)’ is a
comprehensive data source on higher education. AISHE 2022–23 (provisional) reports rise in
number of University / University Level Institutions and Colleges from 760 to 1213 and from 38498
to 46624 respectively, as compared to AISHE 2014-15. Enrolment in higher education has risen
from 3.42 crore in 2014-15 to 4.46 crore in 2022-23, with female enrolment from 1.57 crore to 2.18
crore. The enrolment of SC students is 69.13 Lakh in 2022-23 as compared to 46.07 Lakh in
2014.15. The enrolment of ST students has increased to 28.72 Lakh in 2022-23 from 16.41 Lakh in
2014-15. Total STEM enrolment stands at 99.76 lakh. Number of faculty has also increased from
14.73 lakh in 2014-15 to 16.64 lakh in 2022-23, with number of female faculty increased from 5.7
lakh to 7.36 lakh. Overall GER has improved from 23.7 in 2014-15 to 29.5 in 2022-23.
India’s standing in global rankings has significantly improved, with 54 Indian HEIs featured in the
QS Rankings 2026, as compared to 11 in 2015. The QS Subject Rankings for 2025 included 79
Indian HEIs, an increase of 10 from the previous year's 69. As per QS Asia ranking 2026, 294 Indian
Higher Education Institutions features.
(c): NEP 2020 provides different timelines as well as principles and methodology for its
implementation. Accordingly, Ministry of Education, State Governments, education-related
Ministries, the regulatory and implementing bodies of school and higher education such as
University Grants Commission, All India Council for Technical Education, National Council for
Teacher Education, National Council of Educational Research and Training, Central Board of
Secondary Education, Universities/Colleges/Schools etc. have started taking initiatives for
implementation of NEP 2020. Further, implementation of NEP 2020 is a continuous process. It also
provides that in the decade of 2030-40, the entire policy will be in an operational mode.
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