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Economic Survey 2024-25 highlights education as key to India’s growth, with a target of 100% school enrolment by 2030 and 50% higher education GER by 2035.
Economic Survey 2024-25: School Dropout Decline to 1.9% for Primary, 5.2% for Upper Primary.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Economic Survey 2024-25 in Parliament today, highlighting the importance of education and human capital development for India’s economic and social growth. The Survey highlights the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 as a key framework for creating an inclusive education system aligned with the country’s development goals.
India Aims For 100% Enrolment Ratio In Schools By 2030
The Survey reveals that India’s school education system serves around 24.8 crore students across 14.72 lakh schools, supported by 98 lakh teachers. A major target outlined in the Survey is to achieve a 100% Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in education by 2030. The GER is already near universal at the primary level (93%), with efforts underway to improve enrolment at the secondary (77.4%) and higher secondary (56.2%) levels.
Government schools make up 69% of the total schools, enrolling 50% of students and employing 51% of teachers, while private schools account for 22.5% of schools, educating 32.6% of students and employing 38% of teachers.
The Survey also highlights the declining dropout rates at various school levels: 1.9% at the primary level, 5.2% at the upper primary level, and 14.1% at the secondary level. Significant improvements in school infrastructure are also noted, including better sanitation and increased use of information and communication technologies (ICT).
According to the UDISE+ 2023-24 report, the percentage of schools with computers rose from 38.5% in 2019-20 to 57.2% in 2023-24, and the percentage of schools with internet access increased from 22.3% to 53.9% during the same period.
Higher Education Set To Reach 50% Enrolment By 2035
The Economic Survey 2024-25 highlights India’s rapidly growing higher education system.
In 2021-22, 4.33 crore students were enrolled in higher education, marking a 26.5% increase from 2014-15 when there were 3.42 crore students. The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) for the 18–23 age group also grew from 23.7% to 28.4% during this period.
To reach the government’s target of a 50% GER in higher education by 2035, the Survey emphasises the need to double the educational infrastructure. The number of higher education institutions has already increased by 13.8%, from 51,534 in 2014-15 to 58,643 in 2022-23.
There has also been notable growth in top institutions like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), and universities. The number of IITs rose from 16 in 2014 to 23 in 2023, while the number of IIMs increased from 13 to 20. The number of medical colleges also grew from 387 in 2013-14 to 780 in 2024-25.
By 2040, the goal is for all higher education institutions to become multidisciplinary. To achieve this, there will be a focus on providing more opportunities for quality public education, offering scholarships to disadvantaged students, expanding online education and Open Distance Learning (ODL), and making learning materials accessible to students with disabilities.
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 aims to make India a global knowledge leader, and the Survey stresses that successful implementation of NEP will require strong collaboration between the central and state governments, universities, and regulatory bodies.
