Noida: Only 7,610 schools out of 2,62,358 institutions in the state, or 2.9%, offer uninterrupted education from primary to higher secondary classes, according to NITI Aayog’s latest policy report on school education in India. The national average of integrated schools stands at 5.4%, placing UP far below the benchmark.The report suggests that the fragmented school structure forces children to repeatedly change institutions at key academic stages, increasing transition gaps and dropout risks. “This fragmented progression structure compels students to change institutions multiple times, which contributes to transition inefficiencies and increases the risk of dropout,” the report stated.Rajasthan emerged as the strongest performer in integrated schooling, with nearly 26% of its schools offering uninterrupted classes I to XII. The state has 27,889 integrated schools, accounting for nearly 35% of all such schools in the country. Haryana followed with around 16% of schools providing integrated education, while Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra reported 7.7% and 7.2%, respectively. Bihar (1.40%) and West Bengal (0.91%) ranked below UP in terms of the share of integrated schools.The report also points to a heavily skewed institutional structure in Uttar Pradesh, with a disproportionate concentration of schools at the foundational stage. Of the state’s schools, nearly 1.35 lakh are primary-only institutions, while another 52,000 schools provide education only up to classes I to VIII. However, the number of institutions drops sharply at secondary and higher secondary stages, creating a bottleneck in student progression. UP has only 12,164 upper primary-to-higher secondary institutions catering to classes VI to XII.The state presents a mixed picture on school dropout rates across educational levels. At the primary level, the state has shown major improvement, bringing dropout rates down from 7.09% in 2014-15 to virtually 0% in 2024-25, placing it among the large states that have nearly achieved universal retention in early schooling. However, the trend reverses at the upper-primary stage, where dropout rates rose sharply from 0.52% to 3.0% over the decade, indicating growing challenges as students transition into higher classes. The report notes that this stage often sees increased attrition due to household responsibilities, transition pressures and lack of school continuity. At the secondary level, dropout rates have remained around 10%, reflecting sustained difficulties in retaining students through classes IX and X despite improvements seen in several other states.The enrolment trends highlighted in the report present another major concern. Uttar Pradesh’s Gross Enrolment Ratio at the primary level fell sharply from 112% in 2014-15 to 83.1% in 2024-25, among the steepest declines recorded nationally. The girls’ GER at the upper-primary stage stood at 86.3%, lower than the national average of 92.3%.“A GER below 100% indicates that many children in the eligible age group are either out of school or not enrolled at the appropriate level. Factors such as migration, dropouts and fragmented schooling infrastructure contribute to the decline. However, the recent age-bar criteria has also impacted the enrolment ratio to some extent,” said a senior state education official.Experts said GER can exceed 100% because it counts all enrolled students, including overage, underage and repeat students, against the official school-age population for that level of education. States with higher enrolment participation and larger numbers of overage or returning students therefore often report GER figures above 100%.Other low-performing states in primary GER included Madhya Pradesh (76.3%), Bihar (77.2%) and Gujarat (79.6%), while India’s overall primary GER stood at 90.9%. In contrast, Meghalaya (180.7%), Manipur (140.5%), Mizoram (138%), Telangana (114%) and Uttarakhand (109.9%) remained significantly above the national average.The report also flagged major gaps in digital infrastructure across schools in Uttar Pradesh. Only 19.8% of schools in the state have functional smart classrooms, placing UP among the country’s poorest-performing states in technology-enabled learning infrastructure. Meghalaya (4.3%), West Bengal (5.7%), Mizoram (11.3%), Jharkhand (14.8%) and Bihar (14.9%) were also among the bottom performers.By comparison, Chandigarh has recorded the highest smart classroom coverage at 95.2%, followed by Punjab (80.1%), Delhi (75.7%) and Puducherry (72.5%), reflecting significantly stronger digital integration in classrooms.The report further identified teacher shortages and uneven teacher deployment as a major structural challenge in Uttar Pradesh’s school system, particularly in rural and under-enrolled schools. According to UDISE+ 2024-25 data cited in the report, Uttar Pradesh has 9,508 single-teacher schools enrolling nearly 6.24 lakh students, among the highest such numbers in the country.The report noted that single-teacher schools significantly affect classroom learning, as one teacher is often required to manage multiple grades simultaneously while also handling administrative work, mid-day meals, record-keeping and parent coordination, limiting individual student attention and age-appropriate instruction.
