Archive · 3 Dec 2025
India Sees Rise in Low-Enrollment Government Schools
There are more government schools in India with very few or no students.
The number of these schools went up from 52,300 in 2022-23 to 65,000 in 2024-25.
At the same time, the number of teachers in these schools also increased.
Some states like West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra have the most of these schools.
Overall, the total number of government schools in India has gone down slightly.
Some states like Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, and Odisha saw the biggest drop in the number of schools.
Number of government schools with less than 10 or zero students increased from 52,300 in 2022-23 to 65,000 in 2024-25.
Teachers in these low-enrollment schools increased from 1.26 lakh to 1.44 lakh in the same period.
Total government schools decreased from 10.32 lakh in 2019-20 to 10.13 lakh in 2024-25.
West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, and Maharashtra have the highest number of low-enrollment schools.
Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, and Odisha saw the sharpest decline in the number of government schools.
- Who
- Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan
- What
- Increase in government schools with low or zero student enrolment
- When
- Data shared on December 1, 2025
- Where
- Across India
- Why
- Not explicitly stated in the article
- Increase in low-enrollment schools
- From 52,300 in 2022-23 to 65,000 in 2024-25
- Increase in teachers in low-enrollment schools
- From 1.26 lakh in 2022-23 to 1.44 lakh in 2024-25
- Total government schools in 2019-20
- 10.32 lakh
- Total government schools in 2024-25
- 10.13 lakh
- States with highest low-enrollment schools in 2024-25
- West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra
- Decline in government schools from 2022-23 to 2024-25
- 4,688
- States with sharpest decline in schools
- Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha
