Report on Unified District Information System for Education Plus 2024-25

Report on Unified District Information System for Education Plus 2024-25

Why in News? 

The Ministry of Education has recently published the UDISE+ 2024–25 report on school education, marking a milestone as the country’s teacher count has crossed one crore for the very first time.

Highlights of UDISE+ Report 2024–25 

• Number of Teachers: For the first time since the beginning of UDISE+, the total number of teachers has crossed the one crore mark in 2024–25. In 2022–23, the workforce stood at 94.8 lakh, which grew to 98.07 lakh in 2023–24, and further reached 1.01 crore teachers in 2024–25. This represents a 6.7% increase compared to 2022–23.

• Better Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR): The Pupil-Teacher Ratio has shown consistent improvement, moving closer to the National Education Policy (NEP) recommendations. In 2024–25, PTRs stood at 10 in foundational schools, 13 in preparatory levels, 17 at the middle stage, and 21 at secondary levels. This is a notable progress compared to previous years when the figures were higher.

• Decline in Dropout Rates: Another positive finding of the report is the sharp fall in dropout rates across various stages of schooling. In 2022–23, dropout rates were much higher, but by 2024–25, the numbers declined significantly. 

• At the preparatory level, the dropout percentage reduced to 2.3%.

• At the middle stage it reached 3.5%.

• And at the secondary stage it came down to 8.2%.

• Improved Retention Rates: Student retention has shown progress across all stages of schooling, reflecting stronger participation and continuity in education. At the foundational level, retention rose from 98.0% in 2023–24 to 98.9% in 2024–25. At the preparatory stage, it increased from 85.4% to 92.4%, while the middle stage moved from 78.0% to 82.8%. Even at the secondary level, which traditionally shows weaker retention, rates improved from 45.6% to 47.2%.

• Growth in Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER): The Gross Enrolment Ratio has also shown encouraging growth, pointing to improved access and wider inclusion in schools. At the middle level, GER improved to 90.3% in 2024–25 compared to 89.5% in 2023–24. At the secondary level, GER rose from 66.5% to 68.5% within the same period. 

• Higher Transition Rates: The transition of students from one level of education to the next has shown encouraging progress. 

• • • In 2024–25, nearly 98.6% of children shifted from foundational to preparatory grades.
    • In 2024–25, nearly 92.2% advanced from preparatory to middle.
    • And in 2024–25, nearly 86.6% continued from middle to secondary.

• Reduction in Single-Teacher: The report points to a strong decline in single-teacher schools and schools with zero enrolment. In 2022–23, there were more than 1.18 lakh single-teacher schools, which fell to around 1.04 lakh in 2024–25, a 6% drop compared to the previous year. Similarly, zero-enrolment schools reduced by nearly 38%, falling to 7,993 in 2024–25. 

• Infrastructure Expansion: Digital access has improved considerably. In 2024–25, 64.7% of schools had computer facilities, up from 57.2% in 2023–24, while internet access rose to 63.5%, compared to 53.9% in the previous year. Physical infrastructure has also seen a boost. The percentage of schools with electricity reached 93.6%, those with drinking water touched 99.3%, and almost 97% of schools had toilets for girls. In addition, 95.9% of schools provided handwashing facilities and 83% had playgrounds. 

• Gender Representation: The representation of women teachers has steadily increased, reaching 54.2% of the total workforce in 2024–25 compared to 52.3% in 2022–23. Similarly, girls’ enrolment rose slightly to 48.3%, up from 48.1% in the previous year. 

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