A decadal analysis of India’s school education system by Niti Aayog reveals that while India has achieved a near-universal access to school at the primary level, it faces challenges in retaining students at the secondary level. There is also a persistent crisis in achieving learning outcomes.

The report, titled ‘School Education System in India — Temporal Analysis and Policy Roadmap for Quality Enhancement’, highlights the ‘pyramid’ problem. 

The education system currently resembles a sharp pyramid, housing 14.71 lakh schools and 24.69 crore students.

High dropouts

While the country boasts of 7.3 lakh primary schools, that number plummets to 1.64 lakh at the higher secondary level. Four out of every 10 children who enter the system drop out before completing higher secondary education.

“This structural fragmentation means only 5.4% of schools offer a continuous journey from Grade 1 to 12. For the vast majority of students, moving up through the grades requires changing institutions multiple times — a hurdle that contributes to a steep attrition rate,” the report said. “This fragmentation without any established linkage between schools for transitioning requires students to shift schools at key stages, depending on local availability, which further contributes to declining retention rates and limits the likelihood of progression to higher stages of education.”

To add to this, close to 7,993 schools across the country reported zero student enrolment, with the highest numbers seen in West Bengal (3,812) and Telangana (2,245). “While these schools appear operational in administrative records, they no longer serve any student population. These schools, despite zero enrolment, continue to receive financial and human resources due to the lack of updating of records, showing the difference between on-ground reality and planning,” the report said.

The report recommends ‘Cylindrical’ Schooling to fix the “leaky pipeline” of student dropouts, which involves creating composite schools that cover Grades 1-12 under one roof. The report points to the fact that the Right to Education Act ends at age 14, leaving families to bear the costs of tuition, books, and transport for older children.

No facilities

The report highlights that according to UDISE+ 2024-25, 1.19 lakh schools lack access to functional electricity. Access to water and hygiene facilities is also inconsistent. The share of schools with drinking water facilities has increased from 96.5% in 2014 to 99% in 2025, but 14,505 schools still lack functional water sources, and nearly 59,829 lack hand-washing facilities, compromising student health and hygiene.

“While internet access saw an eightfold increase (now at 63.5%), one-third of schools still lack connectivity, and 50% of government secondary schools operate without a science lab,” the report pointed out. 

Improving learning outcomes in children and responsible use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) are challenges that need to be tackled in the school education system, the report said.

Despite high enrolment, reading proficiency in Grade 8 has dropped. In 2014, 74.7% of Grade 8 students could read a Grade 2 text; by 2024, that figure fell to 71.1%. In mathematics, only 45.8% of Grade 8 students can solve a basic division problem. “Recent PARAKH 2024 findings suggest that while students are good at rote patterns, they struggle with real-world application. For instance, fewer than 30% of Grade 6 students demonstrate competency in fractions,” the report stated.

The report pointed out that in October 2025, the Education Ministry announced that AI and Computational Thinking will be introduced from Grade 3. However, the report warns that without ethical frameworks and better teacher training, an over-reliance on AI could “diminish independent thinking” in younger learners.

‘School complexes’

The report recommended that to strengthen academic continuity, ensure equitable resource allocation, and enhance the efficiency of school governance, ‘school complexes’ should be operationalised as envisaged in NEP 2020. “The concept envisions grouping one secondary or senior-secondary school with all schools offering lower grades within a defined neighbourhood (typically within a 5 to 10 kilometre radius), including nearby Anganwadis,” it stated. 

By aggregating academic and administrative functions across schools, school complexes enable optimal deployment of subject-specific teachers, science and ICT labs, libraries, sports infrastructure, and vocational education offerings such as skill labs. 

“This model becomes particularly critical in rural, remote, and tribal regions where standalone schools may not have the resources to offer complete educational experiences,” the report recommended. 

There is also a need to invest in the creation of open, interoperable, and evolvable Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) in the education sector that can be used by multiple platforms and point solutions. 

“National programmes such as PM e-Vidya, BharatNet, and Gati Shakti should be converged to accelerate infrastructure rollout and enable equitable digital access across school levels,” the report recommended. 

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. 

The report noted that India’s current 4.6% GDP allocation to education remains below the 6% target first recommended in 1964 and that higher allocation is key to achieving reforms.