As government schools vanish, educational inequality grows
A NITI Aayog report reveals that approximately 94,000 government schools in India have closed over the last decade, leading to a significant decline in public school enrollment. The closures disproportionately affect marginalized communities, including Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and rural populations, raising concerns about educational inequality.
Why it matters
The systematic reduction of government schools threatens the constitutional promise of accessible public education for India's most vulnerable populations.
A recent NITI Aayog report said some 94,000 government schools were closed over the past decade, an average of 25 a day, contributing to a 2.26 crore decline in government school enrolment. The government schools’ share of total enrolment has fallen from 71% in 2005 to 49.24% in 2024-25. School closures are happening across States on the grounds of rationalisation. The National Education Policy 2020 advocates such rationalisation but without endangering the concept of neighbourhood schools.
School closure numbers cannot be explained away as gradual demographic drift, urban migration and so on. Rather, it is a coordinated administrative decision taken in states where the poorest and most rural children have the least capacity to compensate for a school that has vanished.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in