School dropout rates declined: Eco Survey

New Delhi: Though school dropout rates have steadily declined in recent years, challenges persist with retention rates in school education for all classes, according to the Economic Survey 2024-25 tabled in Parliament on Friday.

“School dropout rates have steadily declined in recent years, standing at 1.9 per cent for primary, 5.2 per cent for upper primary and 14.1 per cent for secondary levels. However, challenges persist, with retention rates at 85.4 per cent for primary (class 1 to 5), 78 per cent for elementary (classes 1 to 8), 63.8 per cent for secondary (classes 1 to 10) and 45.6 per cent for higher secondary (classes 1 to 12),” the survey said.

Retention rate is the percentage of a cohort of pupils enrolled in the first grade of a given level of education in a given school year and who are expected to reach the last grade of the level.

The Survey highlighted that India’s school education system serves 24.8 crore students across 14.72 lakh schools with 98 lakh teachers. Government schools comprise 69 per cent of the total, enrolling 50 per cent of students and employing 51 per cent of teachers, while private schools account for 22.5 per cent, enrolling 32.6 per cent of students and employing 38 per cent of teachers.

“The importance of skill education in schools has grown significantly with the advent of Industry 4.0, a highly dynamic and skill-intensive era defined by automation, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), big data and robotics.”