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India lost 10,000 government elementary schools in a year
India’s government elementary schools fell by nearly 10,000 in one year, from 8,89,806 in 2024-25 to 8,79,940 in 2025-26, according to UDISE+ data tabled in the Lok Sabha. Meghalaya, Telangana and Andhra…
The Story in Brief
India’s government elementary schools fell by nearly 10,000 in one year, from 8,89,806 in 2024-25 to 8,79,940 in 2025-26, according to UDISE+ data tabled in the Lok Sabha. Meghalaya, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh recorded the steepest drops. The Centre said school closures are a state subject, but the Right to Education Act guarantees neighbourhood schools.
Separately, The Hindu reports Madhya Pradesh’s education department found 7.37 lakh children with no school records. Another 11.38 lakh are at imminent risk of dropping out. NITI Aayog data shows roughly 94,000 government schools closed in the past decade, with a 2.26 crore fall in government school enrolment. Private schools grew from 2.88 lakh to 3.31 lakh in the same period.
The Indian Opinion
The Centre’s refrain that school closures are a state matter ignores its own constitutional duty under the RTE Act. The loss of 94,000 schools in a decade is not demographic drift, it is a nationwide pattern hitting the poorest hardest. Two out of three closure numbers come from BJP-ruled states, but no party is clean. The real test: will the government mandate a public school within every one-kilometre radius as the law demands, or will it keep calling this 'rationalisation'?
Sources (2): thehindu.com, timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
