India now has more than one crore school teachers for the first time ever, according to the Education Ministry's Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2024-25 report. The UDISE Plus is a data aggregation platform maintained by the education ministry to collate school education data from across the country. The total number of teachers has risen to 1.01 crore from 98 lakh last year and 94.8 lakh in 2022-23.
The Ministry described this growth as a "significant achievement in the history of school education," pointing out that it directly strengthens the student-teacher ratio and helps address regional imbalances in teacher availability.
The Pupil-Teacher Ratio (PTR), which indicates the number of students per teacher in a classroom, now stands at 10 at the foundational level (pre-primary to Class 2), 13 at preparatory (Class 3 to Class 5), 17 at middle (Class 6 to Class 8) and 21 at secondary (Class 9 to Class 12)-all well below the National Education Policy's recommended 30:1 ratio. The lower the PTR, the better the student-teacher interactions. This, officials said, allows for "more individualised attention and stronger teacher-student interaction," leading to better learning outcomes.
Now the number of female teachers is also significantly more than that of male teachers as compared to 2014. Since 2014, 51.36 lakh teachers have been recruited, of which 61 per cent are female. Currently, there are 54.81 lakh female teachers in comparison to 46.41 male teachers.
Of India's 14.71 lakh schools, 69 per cent are government-run, which account for 49 per cent of total enrolments. While private schools make up 26 per cent of institutions, they cater to 41 per cent of students. Teacher distribution mirrors this split, with 51 per cent employed in government-run schools and 42 per cent employed in private schools.
The report also notes an improvement in dropout rates across all stages. At the preparatory level, dropouts declined from 3.7 per cent to 2.3 per cent in a year, while the middle stage saw a fall from 5.2 per cent to 3.5 per cent, and the secondary stage from 10.9 per cent to 8.2 per cent. The report states the downward trend reflects schools becoming "more supportive and responsive" to children's needs, helping reduce early exits from the system.
Student retention has risen in tandem. Nearly 99 per cent of children now stay on through the foundational stage, while retention at the preparatory level is at 92.4 per cent from 85.4 per cent, at the middle level it has gone up to 82.8 per cent from 78 per cent, and at the secondary level has gone up to 47.2 per cent from 45.6 per cent a year ago. Officials attributed the improvement in higher classes partly to the growing number of schools offering secondary education.
The report also points to visible progress in infrastructure. The number of single-teacher schools has fallen by 6 per cent, and zero-enrolment schools have plunged by 38 per cent, a sign of improved resource allocation.
Access to digital facilities has grown steadily-64.7 per cent of schools now have computers, from 57.2 per cent last year. Internet connectivity has also gone up by nearly 10 percentage points from 53.9 per cent last year to 63.5 per cent this year.
Basic amenities are also nearing universal coverage with 99.3 per cent of schools having access to drinking water, 93.6 per cent have electricity, and 97.3 per cent have toilets for girls and 96.2 per cent for boys. Facilities to make schools inclusive and holistic have also expanded; 55 per cent have ramps and handrails, 89.5 per cent of schools have libraries, and 83 per cent of schools have playgrounds.
The ministry said the findings underline the impact of targeted interventions in the past few years, "from strengthening teacher strength to keeping children in school and building more equitable, inclusive campuses."
