A new assessment by Niti Aayog has highlighted persistent gaps in India’s government school infrastructure and education quality, with thousands of institutions still operating without essential amenities and facing severe staffing shortages.
According to the report titled “School Education System In India,” released on Thursday, nearly 98,592 schools across the country do not have functional girls’ toilets, while 61,540 lack any usable toilet facility. In addition, 14,505 schools have no access to water, and 59,829 are without handwash facilities. Electricity remains unavailable in 1,19,000 schools, even though national coverage has risen significantly from 55 per cent to 91.9 per cent over the last decade. Only about 51.7 per cent of government secondary schools possess science laboratories.
The report further notes that 1,04,125 schools are functioning with just a single teacher, the majority of them in rural areas. Several states report high pupil-teacher ratios at the secondary level, with Jharkhand recording 47 students per teacher well above the recommended 10:1 to 18:1 range. Teacher vacancies remain acute in states like Bihar (2,08,784 vacancies), Jharkhand (80,341), and Madhya Pradesh (47,122).
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Teacher competency also emerges as a major concern. On average, teachers scored 46 per cent in mathematics assessments, with only 2 per cent managing to score above 70 per cent. Additionally, around 14 per cent of teaching days are typically lost to non-academic tasks such as surveys, elections, and administrative duties.
Enrolment challenges persist as well. The country has approximately 7,993 schools with zero students, often referred to as “ghost schools.” West Bengal accounts for the highest number at 3,812, followed by Telangana with 2,245. The national secondary school dropout rate stands at 11.5 per cent, with several states reporting higher figures: West Bengal at 20 per cent, Arunachal Pradesh and Karnataka at 18.3 per cent each, and Assam at 17.5 per cent. Dropout rates have worsened in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in recent years.
The Niti Aayog document also points out that India allocates 4.6 per cent of its GDP to education, lower than several developed nations. Performance assessments under Parakh indicate relatively weaker outcomes in states such as Jharkhand, Gujarat, and Jammu & Kashmir, while Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan have shown better results.
The comprehensive report brings together national and state-level data on infrastructure, staffing, enrolment, and learning outcomes, underscoring the need for continued focus on improving school education across the country.
