A recently launched report by NITI Aayog — School Education System in India: Temporal Analysis and Roadmap for Quality Enhancement — offers a decade-long assessment of India’s school education system from 2014–15 to 2024–25. Drawing on data from UDISE/UDISE+, PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024, NAS 2017 and 2021, and ASER 2024, the report presents a comprehensive picture of the sector. India’s 14.71 lakh schools currently serve more than 24.69 crore students. Based on empirical evidence and institutional experience, the report provides a balanced evaluation of both achievements and persistent gaps.
The report proposes 33 policy recommendations across 13 thematic areas. Dr Vinod K. Paul, member Niti Aayog, who played a key role in shaping the report, describes strengthening school education as “not just a policy objective, but an obligation to the next generation.” In his foreword, Suman K. Bery, Vice-chairman of the Aayog writes: “Investment in human capital yields dividends across generations. Strengthening school education is therefore central to India’s long-term development strategy. Ensuring every child acquires foundational competence, critical thinking ability and capacity for higher learning will shape the depth inclusiveness and sustainability of India’s future progress.”
The report argues that the vision of Viksit Bharat@2047 can be realised only if classrooms become spaces where talent is recognised early, nurtured consistently, and matched with opportunity. While India has achieved near-universal access at the primary level, the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) at the higher secondary stage remains just 58.4%, with significant inter-state disparities. And, this variations across States, presents a significant opportunity to further expand participation.
This broad vision frames the report’s findings, which offer a stark view of the realities of school education in India.
School education progresses in pyramid
According to UDISE+ 2024–25, India has 7.3 lakh primary schools, but the number falls sharply at higher levels — 4.34 lakh upper primary schools, 1.42 lakh secondary schools, and 1.64 lakh higher secondary schools. This declining institutional presence across stages restricts educational continuity for many students.
Nearly 7,993 schools reported zero enrolment, including large numbers in states such as West Bengal and Telangana. Though these schools continue to exist in official records and receive resources, they no longer serve any students, exposing the disconnect between administrative data and ground realities.
The report also highlights the persistence of single-teacher schools, especially in remote and sparsely populated regions. More than one lakh schools — over 7% of all schools in India — operate with only one teacher, severely limiting instructional quality and student learning outcomes.
Privatization not translating into better Learning Outcomes
Private schools now account for 44.01% of all secondary institutions, while enrolment in government schools has declined from 71% in 2005 to 49.24% in 2024–25. This shift is driven largely by perceptions that private schools offer better English-medium instruction, discipline, and employability. However, the report notes that these expectations are not always reflected in learning outcomes.
Even in low-fee private schools, 35% of Grade 5 students cannot read a Grade 2-level text, while 60% are unable to solve a basic division problem. PARAKH 2024 findings show that only 29% of students can compare fractions, 38% can perform basic unit conversions, and 41% can accurately interpret maps or spatial movement. Weaknesses in these foundational competencies create long-term barriers to advanced STEM learning.
Teacher Capacity and Systemic Gaps
The report points to severe teacher shortages across several states. Bihar alone accounts for more than 2.08 lakh vacancies at the elementary level, along with tens of thousands more at secondary and senior secondary levels. Other states, including Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Haryana, and Maharashtra, also face significant staffing gaps.
Uneven teacher deployment has resulted in widespread multi-grade classrooms, particularly in rural areas, where one teacher often handles multiple grades simultaneously. Rigid staffing norms and the proliferation of under-enrolled schools have worsened the problem.
There is a persistent gap in subject-matter knowledge within India’s teacher preparation system. A major factor contributing to the limited subject-specific preparation is the absence of reliable, comprehensive data on sanctioned subject-wise teacher positions and vacancies, which makes it difficult for States to plan recruitment or design targeted professional development.
The report notes that nearly 14% of planned teaching days are lost annually because teachers are diverted to non-academic duties such as surveys, election work, record maintenance, and mid-day meal supervision. This loss of instructional time is especially damaging in already understaffed schools. The RTE Act mandates a minimum of 800 instructional hours and 200 working days per year for primary classes, while upper primary grades require 1,000 instructional hours and 220 working days annually.
Teacher education institutions (TEIs) also suffer from inadequate subject-focused preparation. Many lack curriculum laboratories, libraries, qualified mentors, and reliable data on subject-specific vacancies, making effective recruitment and professional development difficult. Most pre-service teachers continue to undergo generic B.Ed. programmes that offer insufficient disciplinary depth.
Further, teacher training rarely equips educators to manage multigrade classrooms, leaving many teachers unprepared to address diverse learning needs effectively.
Leadership and Governance Challenges
School leadership structures also come under scrutiny. Headmasters and school leaders often function within rigid bureaucratic hierarchies, with little autonomy to respond to local challenges. Reduced largely to implementers of top-down directives, they have limited scope for innovation, strategic planning, or context-sensitive decision-making.
Social and Economic Disparities
Students from socially and economically disadvantaged groups continue to face structural barriers linked to poverty, low parental education, and limited access to early learning support. Although enrolment at the elementary stage has improved, disparities persist in retention, transition rates, and learning outcomes.
PARAKH 2024 data show significant achievement gaps. At the middle stage, only 33% of SC and ST students demonstrated proficiency in mathematics, compared to 48% among students from the general category. Similar disparities were observed in language learning outcomes.
The transition from elementary to secondary education also imposes a major financial burden on families. Costs related to books, uniforms, transport, examination fees, and private tuition increase sharply at the secondary stage. According to PLFS 2020–21 estimates, 31% of out-of-school adolescents aged 14–17 were engaged in work, while another 25% cited household responsibilities as the reason for dropping out. Girls are particularly vulnerable, often leaving school to undertake unpaid domestic work.
Libraries and Learning Spaces
The proportion of schools with libraries increased from 82.19% in 2014–15 to nearly 89.5% in 2024–25. Yet many libraries remain underutilised due to the absence of trained staff, updated books, and integration with classroom learning. In many cases, libraries function more as storage rooms than as active learning spaces.
The report echoes concerns raised as far back as the Secondary Education Commission (1952–53), which warned that poorly staffed and poorly curated libraries weaken reading habits and independent learning. It recommends revitalising school libraries through better staffing, reading programmes, and digital integration.
Voices:
Sumit Kumar, a growthist and operator, reacting to the report’s findings on poor infrastructure, lack of electricity, and inadequate toilets in schools, raised a stark question in his LinkedIn post: “India wants to become a $10 trillion economy, but here’s the brutal question nobody wants to ask: how do you build a developed nation when lakhs of children are studying in classrooms without basic dignity?”
He argued that the crisis extends far beyond education. “This is not just an education problem. It is an economic problem, a human problem, and a future problem,” he wrote. According to him, when schools lack basic infrastructure, attendance declines, girls quietly drop out of education, learning outcomes deteriorate, and students lose confidence even before entering the workforce.
He further noted that the consequences become visible years later, when the country begins debating weak employability, poor skills, and low productivity. “A demographic dividend means nothing if the foundation itself is broken,” he added.
Key Recommendations
The report argues that incremental reform will not be enough to meet India’s aspirations. Instead, it calls for system-wide transformation driven by coordinated action between the Centre, states, local governments, and schools.
Its major recommendations include:
- Strengthening school provisioning through composite schools and evidence-based rationalisation
- Operationalising school complexes to improve equity and resource efficiency
- Building effective school leadership through structured training and decentralised empowerment
- Strengthening State School Standards Authorities and quality assurance frameworks
- Establishing state and district task forces on school quality
- Strengthening School Management Committees and bottom-up planning
- Providing contextualised support for socially and economically disadvantaged students
- Enhancing gender-inclusive systems
- Preventing dropouts through re-entry pathways and continuity measures
- Supporting migrant and mobile populations
- Integrating vocational education more effectively into schooling
- Building market linkages and regional relevance in vocational education
In his foreword, B. V. R. Subrahmanyam, CEO Niti Aayog, underscores that sustained progress will depend on disciplined execution, Centre–State coordination, and stronger district- and school-level capacity, “Sustained progress will depend on disciplined execution, Centre-State collaboration and grassroots level implementation through continuous strengthening of district and school level capacity. With aligned policy intent and focused implementation, the system can translate scale into enduring capability.”
About the Report
The report emerged from the National Workshop on Quality Education convened by NITI Aayog on 28 February 2025 in New Delhi. Chaired by Vinod K. Paul, the workshop brought together more than 150 participants, including Principal Secretaries, SCERT Directors, national education bodies, civil society organisations, teachers, and international agencies such as UNESCO and UNICEF. A special address was delivered by Sanjay Kumar.
The discussions focused on foundational learning, teacher empowerment, school leadership, and the use of technology in education, while states shared both innovations and implementation challenges that informed the final report.
(Please note, we have reproduced and commented on some selective portions, findings and recommendations in this report)
