The Ministry of Education's UDISE data on Thursday stated that the number of school teachers crossed 1 crore mark for first time in 2024–25 session. The ministry in the data said the student retention rate in schools, Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) also increased during 2024-25 session.
In the report, the ministry said school dropout rates saw notable reduction during 2024-25 across preparatory, middle and secondary levels.
Know all about UDISE report
The Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) Plus is a data aggregation platform maintained by the education ministry to collate school education data from across the country.
"The increase in teacher numbers is a critical step toward improving student-teacher ratios, ensuring quality education, and addressing regional disparities in teacher availability. The numbers are steadily increasing since 2022-23 and the reporting year. There is a rise of 6.7 pc number of teachers during the reporting year as compared to 2022-23," the report said.
Pupil-Teacher Ratio witnesses a significant increase
According to UDISE Plus, the Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR) at the foundational, preparatory, middle and secondary levels is now reported as 10, 13, 17 and 21 respectively, all significantly improved ratios compared to the National Education Policy's (NEP's) recommended ratio of 1:30.
"This improved PTR facilitates more individualized attention and stronger interaction between teachers and students, contributing to enhanced learning experiences and better academic outcomes," the report said.
Notable reduction in dropout rates across India
The academic year 2024–25 has seen a notable reduction in dropout rates across the preparatory, middle and secondary levels as compared to the last two years, namely, 2022-23 and 2023-24.
At the preparatory stage, the rate declined from 3.7 pc to 2.3 per cent, at the middle stage from 5.2 per cent to 3.5 per cent and at the secondary stage from 10.9 per cent to 8.2 per cent in comparison with the previous year.
"This downward trend highlights improved student retention and reflects the success of initiatives aimed at keeping children engaged in their education. The consistent decrease across all levels suggests that schools are becoming more supportive and responsive to students' needs, helping to reduce early departures from the system," the report noted.
The academic year 2024–25 has demonstrated a positive trend in student retention across all educational levels -- foundational, preparatory, middle and secondary. Retention rates have improved significantly compared to the previous year, increasing from 98.0 per cent to 98.9 per cent at the foundational level, 85.4 per cent to 92.4 per cent at the preparatory level, 78.0 to 82.8 per cent at the middle level, and 45.6 per cent to 47.2 per cent at the secondary level.
With inputs from PTI
