Government School Enrolment Drops By 85.86 Lakh, Private Schools Add Over 88 Lakh Students
In 2023-2024, the number stood at 12,74,90199 (12.75 Crore) for student enrolments, which later fell to 11,89,03585 (11.89 crore) in the 2025-2026 year, marking a decline of approximately 6.73 per cent.
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Goverment School Enrolment Rate: The number of students enrolling in government schools has dropped by nearly 86 lakh. However, private unaided schools have seemed to gain this number - an increase of more than 88 lakh students between 2023-2024 and 2025-2026. The number of government schools has also dropped in the country by 12,415, according to an analysis of the UDISE+ NEP reports of 2023-2024, 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 years.
The National Highlights reports shared by Unified District Information System For Education Plus (UDISE+) with the National Education Policy (NEP) structure outline key details across schools including the number of teachers, schools having electricity, drinking water facility, toilet facility for boys and girls, number of students in government schools, government aided schools and private unaided schools.
85.86 Lakh Fewer Students In Government Schools As Private School Enrolment Surges By Over 88 Lakh
The total number of enrolment in government schools for the foundation to secondary level has dropped by 85,86,614 students. In 2023-2024, the number stood at 12,74,90199 (12.75 Crore) for student enrolments, which later fell to 11,89,03585 (11.89 crore) in the 2025-2026 year, marking a decline of approximately 6.73 per cent.
Similarly, the government aided schools also saw a decline in the student enrolments - from 2,55,47,841 (2.55 crore) in 2023-2024 to 2,46,19,692 (2.46 crore) in 2025-2026, a decline of more than nine lakh students or an equivalent of 3.63 per cent.
Private Unaided Schools See Rise In Student Enrolment
On the other hand, private schools have seen an incline in the number of students enrolling there. The number of students rose from 9,00,36,939 (9 crore) in 2023-2024, 9,58,56,710 (9.5 crore) in 2024-2025 to 9,88,63,908 (9.8 crore) in 2025-2026, an increase of 8,826,969 (88.26 lakh) students, amounting to 9.80 per cent.
Student Enrolment Analysis Across Government, Government Aided and Private Unaided Schools
| School | 2023-2024 | 2024-2025 | 2025-2026 | Incline/Decline |
| Government School Enrolments | 12,74,90,199 | 12,15,89,911 | 11,89,03,585 | Decline by 85,86,614 students (about 8.59 million or 6.73%) |
| Government Aided School Enrolments | 2,55,47,841 | 2,47,61,526 | 2,46,19,692 | Decline by 9,28,149 students (about 0.93 million or 3.63%) |
| Private School Enrolments | 9,00,36,939 | 9,58,56,710 | 9,88,63,908 | Incline by 88.27 lakh students (or 8.83 million or 9.80 per cent) |
Report Analysis On Basic Amenities Like Washroom, Electricity, Internet Facility
The number of schools having an electricity connection at their campus has increased over the year, showing an improvement across infrastructure facilities. In 2023-24, 91 per cent of the schools across the country had access to electricity, while in 2025-26, the percentage rose to 95 per cent.
The percentage of schools having basic amenities like drinking water facilities rose from 98.3 per cent in 2023-24 to being 0.5 per cent away from 100 per cent in 2025-26. Schools with computer and internet facilities rose from 57.2 per cent and 53.9 per cent in 2023-24 to 69.9 per cent and 67.4 per cent in 2025-2026.
Schools with toilet facilities have increased slightly - from 98.6 per cent schools having this basic amenity to 99.1 per cent of them.
Sahil Behl is an education journalist at Jagran with over a year of experience in journalism. Prior to joining Jagran, he worked as a Sub-Editor in NDTV's Education department, where he was responsible for writing and editing education-related content as well as managing the department's social media presence. At Jagran, he covers a wide range of education topics, including board examinations, school updates, admissions, and job notifications, while leveraging his editorial expertise and strong understanding of digital content strategy.
Sahil holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and has also completed an eight-month certification program in Data Science. Passionate about emerging technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, he closely tracks their growing role in journalism and explores how they are transforming shaping the future of the media industry.
