Last Updated on September 16, 2026 3:05 pm by INDIAN AWAAZ
Dr. Richa Pandey
Every year, millions of Indian children walk through school gates. Some carry new schoolbags, some carry books passed down from siblings, and some arrive already wondering whether school will ever help them become what they dream of becoming.
The latest UDISE+ 2025–26 report gives us a chance to pause and look at the larger picture of Indian schooling. The answer, like most things in education, is not simply good or bad1.There is certainly progress. India now has 14.67 lakh schools, more than a crore teachers and nearly 25 crore students. More children are entering school and, importantly, more are staying for longer. The secondary school dropout rate has fallen to 7 per cent, while the movement of children from one stage of schooling to the next has also improved.
These numbers matter. For a long time, one of India’s biggest educational challenges was simply getting children into school and keeping them there. But getting a child through the school gate is only the beginning.
A school can have everything on paper and still struggle
Consider the question of teachers. The national pupil teacher ratio is now 24 students for every teacher. At first glance, that sounds reassuring. But anyone who has spent time in a school knows that a number can hide a very different reality.
A school may have enough teachers overall but still struggle because it does not have a mathematics teacher when one is needed, or because a teacher is expected to teach a subject without adequate preparation.
So the conversation about teachers cannot stop at numbers. It has to include the quality of their preparation, the support they receive and the conditions in which they work.
A good education system does not simply need more teachers. It needs teachers who are equipped to understand their classrooms and respond to the children in front of them.
The same is true of technology
The report shows that nearly 70 per cent of schools now have computers and more than two thirds have internet connectivity. That is a significant change from the school system many of us remember.
But technology in education can easily become a numbers game.
A computer sitting in a classroom does not automatically change the classroom. Internet connectivity does not automatically make a lesson more engaging. A smart board cannot replace a teacher who knows when a child is confused, hesitant or simply afraid to ask a question.
Technology can support teaching. It cannot substitute for a good teacher.
The real question is whether schools and teachers are being supported to use these resources meaningfully, rather than simply being provided with the resources themselves.
Inclusion is more than putting children in the same classroom
The report also tells us that girls now account for almost half of school enrolment. Basic facilities such as drinking water, toilets and handwashing are available in most schools. These are important achievements and should not be dismissed.
Yet inclusion is not only about whether a child is enrolled or whether a facility exists.
A child with a disability may technically have access to a school but still struggle to move through it independently. A child from a marginalised community may sit in the same classroom as everyone else but rarely see their experiences reflected in what they learn.
The UDISE+ data shows that 58.2 per cent of schools have ramps with handrails. That figure is a reminder that physical access remains unfinished work.
Being enrolled is only the first step towards experiencing school as a genuinely inclusive space. The numbers cannot tell us everything
UDISE+ can tell us how many schools we have, how many teachers are working in them and how many children are enrolled. But some of the most important aspects of schooling are difficult to capture in numbers.
A child may be present in a classroom and still feel unable to speak freely, make a mistake or ask for help. A teacher may be physically present but may not have the preparation or support needed to respond to the different ways in which children learn.
These everyday experiences are harder to measure, but they are central to what we mean when we say that a child is receiving an education.
This is perhaps where we need to read the UDISE+ numbers with some caution. The data tells us a great deal about the school system we have built.2It tells us much less about the experience of being a child within that system.
And that distinction is becoming increasingly important.
India has spent decades working towards getting children into school, reducing dropout and improving basic facilities. We should recognise how far that journey has taken us.
But the next stage of educational reform cannot be only about adding more schools, more devices or more infrastructure.
It has to be about what happens inside the classroom.
Because ultimately, the success of a school system cannot be measured only by how many children enter its gates. It must also be measured by whether those children leave with greater confidence, curiosity, understanding and a sense that their education has opened possibilities for their lives.
The numbers tell us that India’s schools are changing. The challenge now is to make sure that the experience of learning changes with them.