UDISE+ Report 2025-26: More teachers less dropouts in India school; Strong Digital Infrastructure
In the previous academic year, noticeable progress was made in the availability of teachers, the retention of students, the improvement of infrastructure in schools, as well as the digital accessibility across the whole school system.
On Tuesday, the Ministry of Education published the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) Report 2025-26, showing positive improvements for all schools across the country. From the data in the report, the initiatives from the government aimed at increasing the accessibility of education, and the decrease of the dropout rate, and improving infrastructure are starting to be reflected in some of the important national indicators.
The numbers below show some of the important improvements included in the report.
- The number of teachers surpassed 1.02 Crores in 2025-26
- The student-teacher ratios improved at all levels of schooling.
- The dropout rate decreased at the preparatory and secondary levels.
- The Secondary Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) reached 71.7%.
- Close to 70% of the schools now have computers.
- Schools with Internet access increased to 67%.
- The percentage of female teachers in the total teaching workforce reached 54.9%.
- The percentage of schools that have ramps and handrails increased to 58.2%.
Continued Growth of the Teaching Workforce
The continued growth of the teaching workforce is noted as one of the most positive highlights in this report. 1,02,73,020 teachers are currently working in India, an increase of 8.3% compared to 94,83,294 teachers in 2022-23. The Ministry of Education, an increased workforce of teachers, will positively improve teaching and learning in the classroom, and will reduce the disparities/inequities that exist in the different regions, and will help improve the overall education system.
Student-Teacher Ratio Improves
Healthier classroom sizes also improve. The recent Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) is the following:
|
School Stage |
PTR 2025-26 |
|---|---|
|
Foundational |
10 |
|
Preparatory |
12 |
|
Middle |
17 |
|
Secondary |
21 |
These numbers are all better than the National Education Policy's suggested PTR of 30, indicating that there is likely to be less students in a classroom per teacher.
More Students Staying in School
Factors that show the progress being made are consistently decreasing dropout rates. The preparatory dropout rate dropped from 2.3% to 1.8% from 2024-25 to 2025-26, while the dropout rate for the secondary level dropped from 8.2% to 7.0%.While the middle stage dropout rate increased slightly from 3.5% to 3.6%, that is a significant drop from 8.1% in the 2022-23 school year.
Students Are Retained
There is now better retention in the latter grades. Retention for the middle level increased from 82.8% to 83.7%, while retention for the secondary level increased from 47.2% to 51.9%. Additionally, the Ministry states that the retention is due to the increased number of secondary schools, thereby continuing the education of grade school students.
Improving Secondary Enrollment Records
The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in India increased from 68.5% in 2024-25 to 71.7% in 2025-26. An upward trend means more students are staying and participating in secondary education.
Increased movement through the various stages of education also became apparent:
- Foundational to Preparatory: 99.2%
- Preparatory to Middle: 93.8%
- Middle to Secondary: 88.3%
Improved rates in transition suggest students are less likely to leave during critical transition periods.
Fewer Single-Teacher and Zero-Enrolment Schools
This report tracking declines in single-teacher schools and zero-enrolment schools shows that gaps in the education structure are being addressed. There are now 100,843 single-teacher schools and 5,663 schools with zero enrolment, which is a decrease of about 29% from the previous year.
According to the Ministry, the progress of the trends may lead to an improvement in the deployment of teachers and educational resources.
Schools are Digitally Equipped
Digital infrastructure is one of the areas with the strongest progress in this year's report.
- The number of schools with access to:
- computers increased from 64.7% to 69.9%
- Internet increased from 63.5% to 67.4%.
An increase in digital resources and infrastructure is expected to positively impact teaching and learning.
Basic School Facilities Also Improve
Infrastructural indicators saw improvement in a number of key school facilities:
In schools, teaching and learning are supported by the availability of electricity in 95.0% of schools, safe drinking water in 99.5% of schools, the availability of boys' toilets in 97.2% of schools, girls' toilets in 98.5% of schools, handwashing facilities in 96.9% of schools, and the availability of libraries in 90.5% of schools. In 58.2% of schools, the gradual move towards accessibility of the school campuses has been supported by the construction of ramps with handrails.
The Growth of Female Representation
Representation of women in India's teaching workforce stands at 54.9% as of this academic year (up from 54.2% the year before). In alignment with gender parity in education, the current enrollment percentage of girls stands at 48.4%.
Importance of the UDISE+ Report
The UDISE+ report is the only comprehensive report on the state of education in schools in India. It contains data on enrollment, teaching staff, school infrastructure, and learning-related indicators. It is relied on by policymakers and researchers as well as state governments to evaluate and track progress concerning the National Education Policy (NEP) and for subsequent planning.
The most recent report notes improvements in the availability of teaching staff, the participation of students, and the use of digital technologies. However, challenges remain for concerns with regard to universal access to the Internet, the infrastructure to ensure participation of all individuals and sustaining progress in student retention. That said, the results of the 2025-26 reports are expected to show positive progress concerning several crucial school education indicators.
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