More students, fewer schools: India's education stats paint a stressful picture

Nearly 4,800 schools disappeared over the past year. Meanwhile, student enrolment still increased by nearly 2.9 lakh.Nearly 13 schools disappeared from India's school network every day over the past year. The total number of schools declined from 14.71 lakh to 14.66 lakh. However, classrooms did not get any smaller. Student enrolment, in fact, increased by nearly 2.9 lakh in 2025–26, according to the latest Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) report released by the Ministry of Education.The trend was not uniform across the country. Fifteen States and Union Territories recorded fewer schools despite an increase in student enrolment, while 11 reported the opposite — more schools even as enrolment declined.One in five schools disappeared from Meghalaya's school network in 2025–26, even as student enrolment continued to rise. The state recorded the sharpest mismatch between school numbers and enrolment, with the number of schools falling by 21.4 per cent even as enrolment increased by 4.5 per cent, raising the average number of students per school from 73 to 97. A similar pattern was seen in Telangana, where schools declined by 3.2 per cent while enrolment grew by 2.9 per cent, pushing the average school size from 173 to 184 students. West Bengal also reported 3.8 per cent higher enrolment despite a 0.6 per cent decline in schools, with the average number of students per school increasing from 182 to 190. Not all states followed the pattern. In 11 States and Union Territories, the number of schools increased even as student enrolment declined. Delhi recorded the highest increase in schools (1.6 per cent) despite a one per cent fall in student enrolment, bringing the average number of students per school down from 808 to 788. Bihar also expanded its school network by one per cent while enrolment fell by 2.1 per cent. Similar trends were visible in Rajasthan, Puducherry, Chandigarh, and Uttar Pradesh.- EndsPublished By: Pathikrit SanyalPublished On: Jul 13, 2026 20:43 IST