Syllabus: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
Decline in Number of Government Schools
- UDISE+ data shows a steady decline in government schools over six years.
- India had 10.32 lakh schools in 2019-20, falling to 10.13 lakh in 2024-25.
- Government did not clarify the proportion of closures, mergers or repurposing.
Rise in Schools with Very Low Enrolment
- Schools with fewer than 10 or zero students rose sharply.
- Increased from 52,300 (2022-23) to more than 65,000 (2024-25).
- West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana reported the highest numbers.
Teachers in Low-Enrolment Schools
- Teacher count in such schools increased from 1.26 lakh (2022-23) to 1.44 lakh (2024-25).
- Centre clarified that recruitment, remuneration, and deployment fall under State/UT responsibility as per the Concurrent List.
Annual Reports of Government Schools
- As per 2016 Expenditure Department regulations, States/UTs must table annual and audit reports in their Assemblies before sending them to the Centre.
- UTs without legislatures send reports directly.
- Government did not disclose when the last report was submitted.
Regional Language Education
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- There are 1,405 sanctioned Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs) and 689 sanctioned Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs) nationwide.
- 226 KVs (16%) offer regional language education in 10 languages (Gujarati, Kannada, Punjabi, Tamil, Malayalam, Assamese, Bodo, Marathi, Bengali, Manipuri).
- Punjabi is the most widely taught among these.
- JNVs offer regional language instruction in 18 “local languages”, including Hindi.
- Three-Language Formula in KVs
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- Hindi and English compulsory from Classes I–VIII.
- Sanskrit mandatory in Classes VI–VIII.
- In Classes IX–X, students choose any two among English, Hindi, Sanskrit.
- Data does not specify the States where languages are taught.