Despite demands for universalization of education, India’s public education sector faces a serious management crisis. A report titled “School Education System in India: Time-Based Analysis and Policy Framework for Quality Improvement” published by the Policy Commission in May 2026 and a critical analysis of U-DISE+ data revealed that a large number of government schools across the country have been consolidated and restructured.. As a result of this massive restructuring process, the number of government schools in Assam as well as across the country declined significantly.
According to the Niti Commission report, by 2024-25, about 246.9 million students are studying in 14.71 lakh schools and 10.1 million teachers are working in India.. Although the country has achieved the target of near-universal enrollment in primary education, serious challenges remain regarding the quality of education.. According to the PARK National Survey 2024, the national average of third grade students’ proficiency in language is 64 percent and 60 percent in mathematics.. Similarly, more than half of sixth graders are behind in math, and only 29 percent of students can correctly place a fraction on a number line..
Government schools lack basic infrastructure such as toilets, clean drinking water, electricity and playgrounds, as well as chronically unfilled teacher vacancies, resulting in declining student enrolment. Between 2014 and 2024, as a result of increased parental attraction to private schools, a large number of government schools across the country will have to be consolidated and restructured.. According to state-wise statistics, Madhya Pradesh has the highest number of restructured schools at 29,000 while 7,000 schools have been merged in the last five years. Besides, more than 25,000 schools are covered in Uttar Pradesh, 10,000 each in Chhattisgarh and Odisha, 5,500 in Jharkhand, 5,400 in Andhra Pradesh, 5,000 in Gujarat and 4,300 in Jammu and Kashmir. According to available state-wise data, the number of government schools in Assam has also declined significantly due to school consolidation and restructuring. In Assam, the Department of Primary Education on June 12 directed to merge schools of less than 30 students with nearby schools with good infrastructure and 161 schools in 19 districts have been merged in 2025-2.
The report pointed out several serious deficiencies in the management and administration of the schools. There are 7,993 schools across the country that have zero enrollment but are being allocated government funds.. On the other hand, more than 100,000 schools are managed by only one teacher, with about 3.38 million students.. There are also wide differences between states in terms of educational inequality. In terms of language proficiency in Class III, 82 percent of students in Punjab passed, compared to only 52 percent in Lakshadweep.. The impact of social inequality is also evident; At the upper primary level, 48 per cent of general category students achieved the prescribed standard in mathematics while only 33 per cent of SC and ST students achieved.. Also, there is no concrete system for curriculum integration among states for the education of the country’s 93 million migrant workers’ children, the report said..
The NITI Aayog report makes 33 policy recommendations to address all these challenges. These include formation of school complexes, establishment of State School Standards Authority, four-year integrated B.Ed. Includes suggestions for curriculum introduction and alternative teacher use of artificial intelligence as a supportive tool. The report emphasizes that school enrollment alone is not enough to ensure quality education, but strengthening the actual learning process within the classroom must be the next focus..