NITI Aayog Report on School Education – Dropout Crisis and Policy Reforms

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• NITI Aayog has released a comprehensive report highlighting India’s school education challenges, including sharp dropout rates after Class 10, weak learning outcomes, teacher shortages, and fragmented school structures.

Overview of India’s School Education System

• India’s school education system is one of the largest in the world, comprising 14.71 lakh schools serving 24.69 crore students. 
• While the country has achieved near-universal enrolment at the primary level, the system continues to face deep structural problems affecting quality, retention, and learning outcomes.
• The new NITI Aayog report titled “School Education System in India: Temporal Analysis and Policy Roadmap for Quality Enhancement” draws on data from UDISE+, PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024, National Achievement Survey (NAS) 2017 and 2021, and the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2024.

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Key Findings of the NITI Aayog Report

• The Pyramid Problem: Fragmented School Structure
  • India’s school system resembles a sharp pyramid rather than a continuous structure. 
  • While the country has 7.3 lakh primary schools (Classes 1-5), the number drops drastically to 1.64 lakh higher secondary schools (Classes 11-12).
  • Only about 5% of schools offer continuous education from Grade 1 to Grade 12. 
  • This fragmentation forces students to change schools multiple times, after Class 5, Class 8, and Class 10, contributing to poor retention and high attrition rates.
• Sharp Dropout Rates After Elementary Education
  • While primary-level dropout has fallen to just 0.3%, it rises to 3.5% at the upper primary level and jumps to 11.5% at the secondary stage. 
  • The report notes that four out of every ten children who enter the system drop out before completing higher secondary education.
  • The transition from secondary (Classes 9-10) to higher secondary (Classes 11-12) remains a critical point of attrition. 
  • Although the national transition rate improved from 67.7% in 2014-15 to 75.1% in 2024-25, the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) at the higher secondary level stands at only 58.4% nationally.
  • States like Bihar (38.1%), Meghalaya (39.7%), Nagaland (39.8%), and Assam (43.5%) report the lowest GER at this level.
  • The report identifies financial constraints, early workforce entry, and social pressures as key factors impeding progression beyond Class 10. 
  • The Right to Education Act guarantees free education only until age 14, leaving families to bear costs for older children.
• Weak Learning Outcomes
  • Despite rising enrolment, learning outcomes remain a serious concern. 
  • Reading proficiency among Grade 8 students has declined, from 74.7% in 2014 to 71.1% in 2024, for students who could read a Grade 2 text. 
  • In mathematics, only 45.8% of Grade 8 students can solve a basic division problem.
  • Even private schools, often perceived as offering better education, show weak outcomes. 
  • The report found that 35% of Class 5 students in low-fee private schools cannot read a Class 2 textbook, while 60% are unable to solve a basic division problem.
• Teacher Shortages and Single-Teacher Schools
  • India has approximately 1.01 crore teachers, but significant shortfalls persist, particularly in rural and underserved areas. 
  • Bihar alone has over 2.08 lakh vacancies at the elementary level, besides 36,035 vacancies in secondary schools and 33,035 in senior secondary schools. Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Karnataka also report large shortages.
  • Around 1.04 lakh schools, over 7% of all schools, operate with just one teacher, who must handle multiple grades while managing administrative duties and mid-day meals. 
  • Nearly 14% of planned teaching days are lost to non-academic work such as elections and surveys.
• Weak Teacher Preparation
  • Data from NITI Aayog’s SATH-E programme found that many teachers score below 60-70% in subject papers of the grades they teach. 
  • Only 10-15% of candidates appearing for CTET and State TETs score above the 60% qualifying threshold. Average marks in primary-level mathematics hover around just 46%.
• Infrastructure Gaps
  • According to UDISE+ 2024-25, 1.19 lakh schools lack access to functional electricity. While 99% of schools now have drinking water facilities, 14,505 schools still lack functional water sources, and nearly 59,829 lack handwashing facilities.
  • More than one-third of schools have fewer than 50 students, operating with minimal infrastructure and staff. 
  • Additionally, 7,993 schools reported zero student enrolment, with the highest numbers in West Bengal (3,812) and Telangana (2,245).
• Shift Toward Private Schools
  • Government school enrolment has fallen from 71% in 2005 to 49.24% in 2024-25, while private schools now account for 44.01% of all secondary institutions. 
  • Parents increasingly perceive private schools as offering better discipline, English-medium instruction, and employability.
  • However, the report criticises the weak regulation of private schools, noting that many low-fee institutions lack proper infrastructure, trained teachers, and oversight. 

NITI Aayog’s Recommendations

• Cylindrical Schooling Model
  • The report recommends shifting from the current pyramidal structure to a cylindrical model built around composite schools offering education from Grades 1 to 12 under one roof. 
  • This would reduce unnecessary transitions and support smoother academic progression.
• Foundational Learning Over Textbook Completion
  • NITI Aayog calls for a shift from “textbook completion to foundational mastery,” recommending that children be taught at their actual learning level rather than strictly by grade.
• Teacher Reforms
  • The report recommends that professional development move beyond occasional lecture-based sessions toward sustained, practice-centred learning. 
  • It proposes structured career pathways, from senior to master to mentor-teacher roles, and urges that teachers be freed from non-teaching duties.
• Balanced AI Integration
  • While advocating for AI literacy from upper primary onwards, the report cautions against overuse. 
  • It recommends that AI should assist teachers rather than replace them and calls for ethical frameworks and age-appropriate safeguards to sustain learners’ creativity and independent thinking.
• Sushikshit Bharat Abhiyaan
  • Framing reforms as part of a proposed “Sushikshit Bharat Abhiyaan”, NITI Aayog emphasises that piecemeal reforms will no longer suffice. 
  • “Incremental change will not be sufficient; meeting the aspirations of a resurgent India will demand a system-wide transformation of school education,” the report states.

Source: TH | Print