India’s School Education System Exposed: NITI Aayog Report Reveals Widespread Infrastructure Gaps, Teacher Shortages, and Rising Dropouts

The report reveals that thousands of schools across India continue to operate without essential facilities such as water supply, functional toilets, electricity, laboratories, and even adequate teaching staff. Alarmingly, some institutions reportedly have no enrolled students at all. It further notes that high dropout rates after primary education remain a persistent challenge in several states.

On teacher quality, the report states that only 10 to 15 per cent of government school teachers are able to score above 60 per cent in the subjects they teach, raising concerns about academic competency levels in the education system.

Despite improvements in infrastructure indicators, significant gaps remain. The report notes that 98,592 schools still do not have functional girls’ toilets, while 61,540 schools lack any usable toilet facilities. Additionally, 14,505 schools do not have access to drinking water, and 59,829 schools are without handwashing facilities. Although electricity access has improved substantially from 55 per cent to 91.9 per cent over the past decade, approximately 1.19 lakh schools still lack functional electricity.

In terms of academic infrastructure, only 51.7 per cent of government secondary schools are equipped with science laboratories, limiting practical learning opportunities for students.

The report highlights that 1,04,125 schools in India are functioning with a single teacher, with 89 per cent of these located in rural areas. Jharkhand records a pupil-teacher ratio of 47:1 in government secondary schools, significantly higher than the ideal ratio of 10:1 to 18:1.

Teacher vacancy levels are also notably high, with Bihar reporting 2,08,784 vacancies, followed by Jharkhand with 80,341 and Madhya Pradesh with 47,122. In terms of competency, only 2 per cent of teachers scored above 70 per cent in mathematics assessments, while the average score stands at 46 per cent. Furthermore, teachers lose approximately 14 per cent of instructional days to non-teaching duties such as surveys, elections, and administrative responsibilities.

The report also highlights enrolment concerns, noting that 7,993 schools in India have zero enrolment. West Bengal accounts for 3,812 such schools, followed by Telangana with 2,245.

Dropout rates at the secondary level remain a major concern, with the national average standing at 11.5 per cent. States exceeding this average include West Bengal at 20 per cent, Arunachal Pradesh and Karnataka at 18.3 per cent each, and Assam at 17.5 per cent. A worsening trend has been observed in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, where dropout rates have increased significantly. Bihar’s rate has risen from 2.98 per cent to 9.3 per cent, while Uttar Pradesh has seen an increase from 0.52 per cent to 3.0 per cent.

On overall education investment, India currently spends 4.6 per cent of its gross domestic product on education, lower than the United Kingdom and the United States at 5.9 per cent, and Germany and France at 5.4 per cent.

Under the Performance Assessment, Review, and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development framework, Jharkhand, Gujarat, and Jammu and Kashmir have been identified as underperforming regions, while Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan have shown comparatively stronger performance outcomes.

The report underscores deep systemic challenges across India’s school education ecosystem, reflecting urgent needs in infrastructure development, teacher recruitment, and learning quality enhancement.