Niti Aayog’s Report on School Education System in India

NITI Aayog released a policy report titled ‘School Education System in India: Temporal Analysis and Policy Roadmap for Quality Enhancement’. The report highlights that while India has achieved near-universal access to primary education, the country continues to face major structural and quality-related challenges in ensuring continuity, retention, and meaningful learning outcomes.

Key Findings of NITI Aayog Report on School Education System 

India has achieved major progress in expanding school access and enrolment over the years, particularly at the primary level. However, the education system continues to face serious challenges related to student retention, learning outcomes, infrastructure, digital access, and governance.

Pyramid-like Structure of School Education: The report states that India’s school education system resembles a sharp pyramid, where the number of schools decreases sharply at higher levels of education.

• India has around 14.71 lakh schools serving nearly 24.69 crore students. While there are about 7.3 lakh primary schools, there are only around 1.64 lakh higher secondary schools. 
• The Gross Enrolment Ratio for higher secondary education stands at only around 58.4%, highlighting weak retention at advanced stages of schooling.
• This imbalance creates difficulties for students in continuing education beyond the elementary stage.

Frequent School Transitions Increase Dropout Risks: Students are often required to change schools multiple times after primary, upper-primary, and secondary levels. 

• Only 5.4% of schools in India provide continuous education from Grade 1 to Grade 12 under the same institution. 
• These repeated transitions increase the chances of dropouts, particularly among students from rural and economically weaker backgrounds.

High Dropout Rates and Low Retention: The report highlights that nearly 4 out of every 10 students leave the education system before completing higher secondary education. Economic difficulties, long travel distances, gender-related barriers, and poor educational quality are major reasons behind low student retention.

Presence of Zero-Enrolment Schools: The report identified 7,993 zero-enrolment schools across the country, with a large concentration in states such as West Bengal and Telangana. 

• These schools continue to consume public resources despite having no students, reflecting poor school planning, migration-related demographic changes, and inefficient allocation of educational infrastructure.

Serious Infrastructure Deficiencies: Many schools in India still lack basic infrastructure facilities necessary for effective learning. 

• Around 1.19 lakh schools do not have functional electricity, thousands lack proper drinking water facilities, and nearly 59,829 schools do not have hand-washing facilities. 
• Such deficiencies negatively affect student attendance, health, hygiene, and learning conditions.

Persistent Digital Divide in Education: Although internet connectivity in schools has increased significantly in recent years and reached around 63.5%, nearly one-third of schools still lack internet access. 

• The report also notes that around 50% of government secondary schools do not have functional science laboratories. 
• This digital and scientific infrastructure gap creates inequality in access to modern education, especially between urban and rural areas.

Declining Learning Outcomes: The report raises serious concerns about the quality of education and learning outcomes. 

• Reading proficiency among Grade 8 students declined from 74.7% in 2014 to 71.1% in 2024. 
• Only 45.8% of Grade 8 students can solve a basic division problem,
• Less than 30% of Grade 6 students demonstrate competency in fractions according to PARAKH 2024 findings. 
• This reflects a growing crisis of “schooling without learning.”

Shift Towards Private Schooling: The report points towards a growing perception gap regarding the quality of government schools.

• Government school enrolment declined from around 71% in 2005 to around 49.24% in the academic year 2024-25. At the same time, enrolment in low-fee private schools has increased significantly.
• The report suggests that this shift reflects parental concerns regarding learning quality, infrastructure, accountability, and educational outcomes in public schools.

Concerns Regarding AI Integration in Schools: The report discusses the introduction of Artificial Intelligence education from Grade 3 onwards. 

• While AI can improve digital literacy and future readiness, the report warns that excessive dependence on technology without proper teacher training, ethical safeguards, and balanced pedagogy may negatively affect critical thinking and classroom learning.

Governance and Administrative Weaknesses: The report highlights major governance challenges such as teacher shortages, vacant administrative posts, weak monitoring systems, and delays in recruitment. 

• More than one lakh “single-teacher schools” continue to operate across the country. 
• Many schools lack subject-specific teachers, especially in mathematics, science, and languages. This negatively affects classroom teaching quality, conceptual learning, and student-teacher engagement.

Key Recommendations of NITI Aayog to Improve Education Quality

Niti Aayog has recommended several reforms to improve the quality, accessibility, and governance of school education in India.

• Introduce a “Cylindrical” Schooling Model: NITI Aayog has suggested replacing the current pyramid-like school structure with composite schools that provide education from Grade 1 to Grade 12 in the same campus. This will reduce frequent school changes and help lower dropout rates.
• Create School Complexes: The report recommends setting up “School Complexes” under the National Education Policy 2020. In this system, one secondary or senior secondary school will be connected with nearby primary schools and Anganwadis within a 5–10 km area. Schools will share teachers, science labs, libraries, sports facilities, and digital resources to improve educational quality and reduce resource gaps.
• Improve School Quality Monitoring: The report stresses strengthening State School Standards Authorities (SSSAs) and School Quality Assessment Frameworks to ensure proper monitoring, accountability, and continuous improvement in school education.
• Promote a “Whole-of-Society” Approach: NITI Aayog has proposed forming State and District Task Forces on School Quality involving governments, local communities, civil society organisations, and academic institutions. This will encourage collective participation and better coordination in education reforms.
• Strengthen School Management Committees (SMCs): The report highlights the need to empower School Management Committees and encourage local-level planning. Greater community participation can improve transparency, accountability, and school governance.
• Build Strong Digital Infrastructure: The report recommends linking schemes such as PM eVidya, BharatNet, and PM Gati Shakti to create a strong Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for education. This will improve digital learning, especially in rural and remote areas.
• Fill Vacant Educational Posts: Niti Aayog has said that a comprehensive vacancy mapping of all administrative positions from the block to the State level — including Cluster Resource Coordinators, Block Education Officers, and MIS personnel — should be conducted to fill critical vacancies at block and district levels through time-bound recruitment drives. 
• Increase Spending on Education: The report reiterates that India should increase public expenditure on education to 6% of GDP from the current level of around 4.6%. Higher investment is necessary to improve infrastructure, teacher training, technology, and overall educational quality.

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