In August 2025, the Ministry of Education (MoE) released a comprehensive report on Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) for academic Year 2024-25 on school education of India.
- The report showed that for the 1st time in any academic year, since the inception of UDISE+ in 2018-19, the total number of teachers has breached the mark of 1 crore (1,01,22,420) in 2024-25 as compared with 98,07,600 (in 2023-24) and 94,83,294 (2022-23).
Exam Hints:
- What? Release of UDISE+ Report for academic Year 2024-25
- Released by: MoE
- Total Teacher Count: 1 crore (1,01,22,420)
- PTR: 10 (foundational level), 12 (preparatory level), 17 (middle level) and 21 (secondary level)
- GER: 90.3% (at middle level) and 68.5% (at secondary level)
About Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) :
Overview: In 2018-19, the Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSE&L) under MoE, introduced UDISE+, which is one of the largest management information systems.
- Now, it has covered over 14.72 lakhs of schools, 98.08 lakhs of teachers and 24.08 crores of children in India.
Launches: It was initially launched as UDISE in 2012-13 by integrating information management systems in place separately for elementary education and secondary education.
- It was then being managed by the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration(NIEPA).
Data Management : The UDISE+ provides online uploading of data at school level with inbuilt validation checks and subsequent data verification at the block, district and state level ensures data reliability and timely competition.
Key Findings of UDISE+ 2024-25:
Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR): The report revealed that PTR has improved in 2024-25 compared to 2014-15 at all educational levels i.e. from 15 to 10 (foundational), from 18 to 13 (preparatory), from 26 to 17 (middle) and from 31 to 21 (secondary).
- These ratios indicate improvement compared to National Education Policy (NEP 2020)’s recommended ratio of 1:30 (one teacher for 30 students).
School Enrolment Distribution : Currently, India has almost 15 lakh schools with more than 24 crore students. Out of these, 50% students are enrolled in government schools; followed by private schools (41%) and government-aided schools (9%).
School Enrolment: The data of the report showed that the total school enrolment number (from Class-I to Class XII) has decreased by 11 lakh students, from 24.8 crore (2023-24) to 24.69 crore (2024-25), all-time low since 2018-19. The report outlined that this decline in enrolment is mainly due to falling birth rates, except in few states such as: Uttar Pradesh (UP), Bihar, and Meghalaya.
- At Middle School (Class VI to VIII): The report showed that total enrolment of students increased by nearly 6 lakh, from 6.31 crore students (in 2023-24) to 6.36 crore (in 2024-25).
- At Secondary School (Class IX-XII): As per the report, the total enrolment of students increased by nearly 8 lakh, from 6.39 crore students (in 2023-24) to 6.48 crore (in 2024-25).
Drop Out Rates: The report highlighted that the academic year 2024-25 has seen a significant decrease in dropout rates across 3 educational levels (Preparatory, Middle and Secondary)as compared to previous two academic years (2023-24 and 2022-23).
- At the Preparatory stage, the dropout rate declined from 3.7% (2023-24) to 2.3% (2024-25); at the Middle stage, from 5.2% to 3.5%; and at the Secondary stage, from 10.9% to 8.2%.
Improved Student Retention Rate: As per the report, the academic year 2024-25 has shown a positive trend in student retention across all educational levels i.e. foundational, preparatory, middle and secondary.
- The report showed that student retention rates have increased significantly compared to last academic year (2023-24), from 98.0% to 98.9% (at the foundational level); 85.4% to 92.4% (at the preparatory level); 78.0% to 82.8% (at the middle level); and 45.6% to 47.2% (at the secondary level).
Improved GER: The report showed that Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) at the Middle and Secondary levels, increased from 89.5% to 90.3% and from 66.5% to 68.5%, respectively.
Improved Transition Rate: The report revealed the transition rate has increased across all education levels i.e. from 98.1% in 2023-24 to 98.6% in 2024-25 (from foundational to preparatory level);
- From 88.8% to 92.% (from preparatory to middle level) and from 83.3% to 86.6% (from middle to secondary level) for the same time period.
Improved Female Representation: As per the report, the academic year 2024-25 has witnessed increase in female teacher’s representation i.e. women account for 54.2% of the teaching workforce in India (in 2024-25) as against the 53.3% (2023-24) and 52.3% (2022-23).
- Similarly, girls’ enrolment has increased to 48.3%, up from 48.1% (in 2023-24) and 48% (in 2022-23).
Other Key Findings:
Zero Enrolment and Single Teacher Schools: As per the report, academic year 2024-25 recorded decline in single teacher and zero-enrolment schools. Single teacher schools have declined by around 6%, from 110,971 (in 2022-23) to 104,125 (in 2024-25).
- While, zero-enrolment schools have witnessed a significant drop of around 38%, from 12,954 to 7,993 during the same time period.
Improved Infrastructure: The report noted that digital access has increased in the reporting year as compared to last year like: computer access (from 57.2% to 64.7%); internet connectivity (from 57.2% to 64.7%).
- Basic infrastructure facility that includes: Electricity (from 91.8% to 93.6%); drinking water (from 98.3% to 99.3%); hand-washing facilities (from 94.7% to 95.9%), among others.
- Also, schools equipped with ramps and hand rails, increased from 52.3% to 54.9%.
About Ministry of Education (MoE):
Union Minister- Dharmendra Pradhan (Constituency- Sambalpur, Odisha)
Minister of State (MoS)– Jayant Chaudhary (Rajya Sabha- Uttar Pradesh, UP); Dr. Sukanta Majumdar (Constituency- Balurghat, West Bengal, WB)
