Prime Today News Desk: A parliamentary panel has raised concern over the sharp decline in student numbers as children move from primary education towards higher secondary school. Its report says nearly 73% of students do not continue through the higher-secondary stage, describing the pattern as a serious policy challenge.
The finding appears in the Tenth Report of the Lok Sabha Committee on Estimates for 2026-27. The report examines budget and policy issues related to affordable, quality education, including the role of the Central Board of Secondary Education.
Far fewer schools are available at higher levels
Using UDISE 2024-25 data, the committee noted that the education system has many more institutions at primary and upper-primary levels than at secondary and higher-secondary levels. The figures cited include 9,11,032 schools offering primary education, 4,12,805 at upper-primary level and 1,61,808 at secondary level, while only about 90,000 offer higher-secondary education.
The categories can overlap because a single school may teach more than one level, so the figures should not simply be added together. Even so, the steep reduction at the upper stages points to access constraints and helps explain why enrolment falls as students advance.
Dropout is not caused by one factor
Distance, transport, household income, early work, safety concerns, disability access and the availability of teachers can all affect whether a student remains in school. Girls and students in rural or disadvantaged communities may face additional barriers. Academic support and the perceived value of continued education also matter.
Addressing the problem will require more than building classrooms. Governments need reliable transition data, targeted scholarships, safe transport, counselling, vocational options and adequate teachers at secondary level. The panel’s warning should prompt closer examination of where students leave the system and which interventions actually bring them back.
Data should guide local solutions
National averages can hide large differences between districts, social groups and genders. Education departments should publish transition rates from one class to the next and identify the schools or blocks where attrition is concentrated.
Policies can then be tested against measurable outcomes: attendance, examination participation, re-enrolment and completion. Regular public reporting would help distinguish programmes that merely spend money from those that actually keep teenagers in education.
Source: Business Standard. This is an independently written report based on the cited reporting.
