India has fewer schools but wider reach, EAC-PM paper finds; cautions against closures — TradingView News

The number of reported schools in India has declined 5.4 per cent since 2018-19, even as more schools have expanded to higher classes and infrastructure has improved, said a working paper by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM).

However, the paper cautions against treating the fall in school numbers as a count of closures. It said changes in school codes could also be due to mergers, upgradation, changes in management or corrections in government records.

The paper was written by Soumya Kanti Ghosh, Member of the EAC-PM and the 16th Finance Commission, and Group Chief Economic Advisor at the State Bank of India, and Shashidharan Sharma, an economist at SBI.

According to the paper, the number of reported schools fell from 15.51 lakh in 2018-19 to 14.67 lakh in 2025-26. The number of primary-only schools declined 12.6 per cent, from 8.27 lakh to 7.22 lakh. At the same time, schools offering education up to Class XII increased by 29.7 per cent, from 1.30 lakh to 1.69 lakh.

The number of teachers also increased from 94.16 lakh to 1.03 crore during this period.

The authors explain that when a primary school is upgraded to offer education up to Class VIII, it no longer appears in the primary-only category. This does not mean the school has closed. The available data do not distinguish between actual closures and such administrative changes.

The paper also points to improvements in school infrastructure. The share of schools reporting electricity increased from 76.7 per cent to 95 per cent, while computer availability rose from 34.5 per cent to 69.9 per cent. Internet access increased from 18.7 per cent to 67.4 per cent. However, the authors caution that these figures show the availability of facilities, not whether they are functional or regularly used.

The paper links the changing school network to India’s declining birth rate and changing population patterns.

India’s fertility rate fell from 2.1 in 2019 to 1.9 in 2024. The population of children aged five to nine is projected to decline from 12.53 crore in 2011 to 11.27 crore in 2026 and 10.02 crore in 2036.

The authors say this could reduce the demand for primary schools in several areas, but the decline will not be uniform across the country.

There is also a shift in where children are going to school. Between 2012-13 and 2021-22, enrolment in schools located in rural areas fell by around 78 lakh, while enrolment in urban schools increased by about 93 lakh.

The share of students enrolled in private unaided schools increased from 26.9 per cent to 32.2 per cent during this period. The share of government schools declined from 58.4 per cent to 54.9 per cent.

The trends vary across States. Of the 34 regions studied, seven, including Bihar, recorded an increase in both enrolment and the number of schools. Seven, including Rajasthan, saw enrolment rise even as the number of schools declined. In 11 regions, including Madhya Pradesh, both enrolment and school numbers fell.

In nine regions, including Tamil Nadu, enrolment declined even as the number of schools increased.

Uttar Pradesh showed little overall change, but the rural-urban divide was significant. Rural enrolment fell by 19.46 lakh, while urban enrolment increased by 17.60 lakh.

The paper says the government should be careful while merging or closing schools with low enrolment. While NEP 2020 allows schools to be reorganised, the authors argue against a uniform national target for closures or a fixed minimum number of students for every school.