Nearly half of Gujarat students do not complete Class 12: Report

Nearly one in every two students enrolled in Gujarat's school system does not remain in education until Class 12, according to the latest Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) 2025-26 report, highlighting persistent challenges in student retention, teacher deployment and secondary education.The report, released by the Union Ministry of Education, shows that Gujarat enrolled over 1.15 crore students across 53,425 schools during the 2025-26 academic year. However, the state's overall retention rate up to Class 12 stood at 54.5 per cent, indicating that 45.5 per cent of students leave the education system before completing higher secondary education.
Girls recorded a slightly higher retention rate of 56.2 per cent, compared with 53 per cent for boys.While Gujarat achieved 100 per cent retention at the foundational and preparatory stages, the rate declined to 90.4 per cent at the middle stage before dropping sharply to 51.9 per cent at the secondary level.The report also pointed to a high dropout rate in secondary education. Gujarat recorded a 12.5 per cent dropout rate at the secondary stage, significantly higher than the national average of 7 per cent, placing the state among those with the highest secondary-level dropouts.The findings also highlighted issues related to teacher deployment and school infrastructure.According to the report, 58 schools in Gujarat reported zero student enrolment despite employing 74 teachers, pointing to administrative inefficiencies in staff allocation.At the same time, the state has 2,335 single-teacher schools catering to 80,053 students, indicating staffing shortages in several institutions, particularly in rural and remote areas.
Although Gujarat has an average of seven teachers per school, matching the national average, its pupil-teacher ratio stands at 29, higher than the national average of 24. The data suggests that while the overall number of teachers may be adequate, their distribution across schools remains uneven.The report also flagged concerns over higher secondary and higher education participation.
According to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Progress Report 2024-25, only 50.82 per cent of students in Gujarat complete Class 12, compared with the national average of 61.14 per cent.The state's Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) in higher secondary education stands at 47.3 per cent, well below the national average of 58.4 per cent, while the GER in higher education is 26.2 per cent, against the national average of 29.5 per cent, placing Gujarat 23rd among states and Union Territories.Learning outcomes also remain a concern. According to the PARAKH National Survey cited in the SDG report, Gujarat students scored below the national average in both language and mathematics across Classes 3, 6 and 9. The gap was most pronounced in Class 9 mathematics, where only 3 per cent of students achieved proficiency, compared with the national average of 11 per cent.
The UDISE+ report, compiled from data submitted by schools with active UDISE+ codes, provides India's most comprehensive database on school education. Its findings suggest that despite Gujarat's strong economic performance, the state continues to face significant challenges in improving student retention, strengthening learning outcomes and ensuring equitable distribution of teaching resources across schools.
According to media reports,Gujarat Congress spokesperson Parthivraj Kathwadia, who recently presented the report in a press conference in Ahmedabad, alleged that the Central Government's own statistics expose the declining condition of education in Gujarat.He said, "Gujarat's education sector requires structural reforms. The state must move beyond excessive privatisation and commercialisation of education. It should engage with educationists to build a robust, quality-driven education system for future generations."
Meanwhile,in recent years, the Gujarat government has introduced several initiatives aimed at improving school education, including the Shala Praveshotsav enrolment drive, Kanya Kelavani Mahotsav to promote girls' education, Mission Schools of Excellence to upgrade infrastructure and learning outcomes, and the Namo Lakshmi and Namo Saraswati Vigyan Sadhana schemes to encourage girls and science education. However, educationists say that while these initiatives are expected to strengthen access and quality of schooling over time, the latest UDISE+ findings suggest that improving student retention beyond the secondary level and raising learning outcomes will require sustained implementation, targeted interventions and continuous monitoring to translate policy measures into measurable outcomes.

(State Correspondent)