New Delhi: Private schools are gaining students at the cost of govt schools, reshaping who studies where in India’s classrooms.While overall school enrolment has held broadly steady over two years, govt schools lost nearly 86 lakh students between 2023-24 and 2025-26, even as private unaided recognised schools added over 88 lakh of them.A TOI analysis of UDISE+ NEP-structure reports for 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26 (released Tuesday) shows total enrolment from foundational to secondary level at 24.7 crore in 2025-26, compared with 24.8 crore in 2023-24 – a decline of about 8.3 lakh. But within this nearly flat headline number, enrolment in govt schools fell from 12.8 crore to 11.9 crore, while that in private unaided recognised schools rose from 9 crore to 9.9 crore.The shift comes at a time when school system has shown improvement on several access and infrastructure indicators. The number of schools declined marginally from 14.7 lakh to 14.7 lakh, but the teacher base rose from 98 lakh to 1 crore, improving the overall pupil-teacher ratio from 25 to 24. Number of zero-enrolment schools fell from 12,954 to 5,663, while single-teacher schools declined from 1.1 lakh to 1 lakh.The clearest academic access gain is at secondary level. Secondary GER rose from 66.5 in 2023-24 to 71.7 in 2025-26, while secondary dropout fell from 10.9% to 7%. The transition rate from middle to secondary improved from 83.3% to 88.3%, and secondary level retention rose from 45.6% to 51.9%. Girls continued to do better than boys at secondary stage: in 2025-26, girls had higher GER (74 vs 69.6), lower dropout (5.7% vs 8.3%) and better retention (55% vs 49.2%).The level-wise enrolment pattern has also changed. Secondary enrolment rose by about 31.5 lakh between 2023-24 and 2025-26, while preparatory enrolment fell by over 42 lakh. Foundational enrolment rose only marginally. The reports note that UDISE+ foundational data does not include Anganwadi enrolment, which limits how far school-based pre-primary numbers can be read as the full Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) picture.Infrastructure has shown a sharper improvement in digital access than in basic amenities, many of which are already near saturation. Schools with computer facility rose from 57.2% to 69.9%, while internet facilities rose from 53.9% to 67.4%.Drinking water reached 99.5%, toilets 99.1%, girls’ toilets 98.5% and electricity 95%. But gaps remain in inclusive and climate-linked infrastructure: only 40.1% schools had CWSN-friendly toilets, 58.2% had ramps with handrails, 29.9% had functional rainwater harvesting and 11.5% had solar panels.State-wise, Uttar Pradesh recorded the largest enrolment gain over two years, followed by Telangana and Jharkhand. Rajasthan, Bihar and TN saw the steepest enrolment declines. Jharkhand and Haryanaposted the biggest gains in secondary GER, while Bihar, Meghalaya and West Bengal recorded the sharpest falls in secondary dropout.
