UDISE+ Report, 2025-26

Why in News?

The Union Education Ministry released the comprehensive report on the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) for the academic year 2025-26.

• Purpose – It is the Ministry of Education’s official database that tracks school infrastructure, enrolment, and teacher-related data across the country.
• Voluntary Updating – The report is based on data voluntarily uploaded by schools with active UDISE+ codes for the 2025-26 academic year, with March 31, 2026, as the reference date.

Key Findings

• Gross Enrolment Level Ratio (GER) – At the secondary level surged to 71.7% from last year’s 68.5%.
• Zero-Enrolment – 5,663 institutions with zero student enrolment.
• The highest is West Bengal (4,133) & others include Chandigarh, Goa, Delhi, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep, Puducherry and Haryana.
• Girls' Enrolment – Increased to 48.4% in 2025-26 from 48.3% a year earlier.
• Infrastructure – There is a notable improvement across several indicators.
  • Ramps & handrails for disability students – Rose to 58.2%, up from 54.9% in 2024-25.
  • Internet Connectivity – Saw a sharp rise from 63.5% to 67.4%.
  • Other basic facilities – Electricity (95%), toilets for girls and boys 98.5% & 97.2%, respectively, and access to safe drinking water (99.5%).
• Fall in School Dropout – India’s school dropout rates declined at both the preparatory and secondary levels in 2025–26, continuing the downward trend of the past three years.
• Students in Classes 3 to 5 fell to 1.8%, down from 2.3% & Classes 9 and 10 dropped from 8.2% to 7% in 2024-25.
• Teacher Workforce – For the first time, India’s teacher workforce crossed 1.02 crore in an academic year, rising steadily since 2022–23 with an overall 8.3% increase over three years.
• Pupil-Teacher Ratios (PTR) – Across the foundational, preparatory, middle and secondary stages stood at 10, 12, 17 and 21 respectively-well within the 30:1 benchmark set by NEP 2020 for effective classroom interaction.
• Chandigarh and Delhi had the highest number of students per school with PTR figures within the norms set by the Right to Education (RTE) Act.
• In contrast, Ladakh, Mizoram, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, and Meghalaya had notably low student numbers per school.
• Single Teacher School – 1,00,843 schools across the country were found to be functioning with only a single teacher.
• Andhra Pradesh (16,357), followed by Jharkhand (9,827), Punjab (1,749).

References

1. The Hindu | 55% teachers are women, girl student enrolment up: govt.
2. Indian Express | UDISE+ Report, 2025-26
3. NDTV | UDISE+ Report, 2025-26