Archive · 12 Aug 2026
Parliamentary panel flags 73% student enrolment drop in India
In India, some very important people check how many children go to school.
These people found something sad: many children stop going to school as they grow older.
A lot of children start in primary school, but by the time they reach higher secondary school, very few are left.
One big reason is that there are not enough higher secondary schools.
So the important people told the government to build more high schools and make the existing ones better.
They also told the government to spend more money on education, because India currently spends less than it promised.
Some money that was set aside to help little kids learn reading and maths was not even used.
This means some schools did not get the help they needed.
The important people hope that fixing these problems will let every child finish school.
A parliamentary panel flagged a nearly 73% decline in student enrolment from primary to higher secondary level, based on UDISE data for academic year 2024-25.
Enrolment falls from 6.18 crore students in primary classes to 1.6 crore in higher secondary, while only about 90,000 schools in India offer higher secondary education.
The panel urged the Ministry of Education and state/UT governments to upgrade existing primary and secondary schools into full-fledged higher secondary schools.
Combined Centre and state education spending is 4.1% of GDP, below the New Education Policy 2020 target of 6%, with the 2026-27 Union Budget allocating Rs 1,39,286 crore to the Ministry of Education.
About 39% of NIPUN Bharat's approved outlay for 2024-25 remained unutilised, with low fund utilisation reported in states including Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Kerala and Rajasthan.
- Who
- India's Parliament Committee on Estimates (parliamentary panel)
- What
- Flagged a nearly 73% drop in student enrolment from primary to higher secondary and called for more higher secondary schools and higher education spending
- When
- Report presented in Parliament on Tuesday, with data for academic year 2024-25
- Where
- India (report tabled in Parliament in New Delhi)
- Why
- To arrest student drop-offs, improve access to higher secondary education, and meet NEP 2020 goals on quality education and funding
- Enrolment decline
- Nearly 73% from primary to higher secondary level
- Primary enrolment (2024-25)
- 6.18 crore students
- Higher secondary enrolment (2024-25)
- 1.6 crore students
- Higher secondary schools
- About 90,000 schools across India
- Education spending
- 4.1% of GDP by Centre and states (NEP 2020 target: 6%)
- Union Budget 2026-27 allocation
- Rs 1,39,286 crore for Ministry of Education, an 8.27% rise
- NIPUN Bharat unutilised funds (2024-25)
- 39% of Rs 3,02,926.82 lakh outlay remained unused
- Report title
- Budget and Policy aspects for providing Affordable and Quality Education in the Country including Review of CBSE