Govt schools in 23 states record drop in student enrolment, Uttar Pradesh tops list: Report

The MoE held meetings with 33 states and UTs last month, and carried discussions on performance, planning and budget on PM-POSHAN scheme.

Enrolment in government schools across 23 states in India saw a steep drop in 2024-25.

The Ministry of Education (MoE) held meetings with 33 states and Union Territories (UTs) last month, and carried discussions on performance, planning and budget on PM-POSHAN scheme, as reported by The Indian Express.

In 23 states the student enrolment rate has gone down, while 8 witnessed drastic decline.

The report compared the number of enrolments in five states in the year 2023-24 and 2024-25, and the decline they witnessed.

Uttar Pradesh topped the list and reported a drop of 21.83 lakh enrolments. Trailing behind Uttar Pradesh was Bihar, which reported a drop of 6.14 lakh enrolment.

Rajasthan reported a decline of 5.63 lakh student enrolment, while West Bengal and Karnataka reported a drop of 4.01 lakh and 2.15 lakh enrolments, respectively.

In 2023-24, enrolment in govt schools across India fell by 37 lakh.

While the number of enrolled students in 2022-23 was 25.17 crore, the figures for 2023-24 stood at 24.80 crore. The number of girl students dropped by 16 lakh during the period under review, while the number of boy students fell by 21 lakh, as reported by PTI.

The MoE officials listed two possible causes for the decline, first being a change in data collection method. The officials stated that "data cleansing" may have removed "ghost entries", as reported by the publication.

The second reason they stated was that some students might have been being enrolled in private schools from government schools after Covid.

Additionally, the report also highlighted PM-POSHAN flagging "low scheme coverage".

PM POSHAN (POshan SHAkti Nirman) Scheme provides hot cooked meal in government and government-aided schools, for students studying in Classes I-VIII.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the continuation of the national scheme of PM POSHAN in schools for the five-year period 2021-22 to 2025-26 with the financial outlay of Rs 54061.73 crores from the Central Government and Rs 31733.17 crore from state governments & UT administrations.