UDISE+ Report: Telangana Enrolment Rises 2.9% Despite Fewer Schools; Girls Outperform Boys
The state had 43,154 schools in 2024-25. That number dropped to 41,762 this year as enrollment moved the other way, climbing from 74,57,851 to 76,76,413 students, a rise of 2.9 per cent.
HYDERABAD:
The Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) report for 2025-26, released by the Union education ministry on Tuesday, shows Telangana teaching more children in fewer schools, with girls now ahead of boys at every stage of education and a teacher shortage that increases the higher a student climbs.
The state had 43,154 schools in 2024-25. That number dropped to 41,762 this year as enrollment moved the other way, climbing from 74,57,851 to 76,76,413 students, a rise of 2.9 per cent. Teacher numbers grew too, from 3,57,911 to 3,70,756. Average enrolment per school stood at 184, the report said, up from 173 last year, so schools in the state have more students on average.
Additionally, Telangana had previously 2,245 schools with zero enrolment in 2024-25, the second-highest count among all states after West Bengal. The last report puts that number at zero. Single-teacher schools also fell, from 5,001 to 4,793.
Telangana's pupil-teacher ratio stood at 18 in primary classes, 11 in upper primary, nine in secondary and 26 in higher secondary. That last figure sat well above the rest, which meant Telangana has close to three teachers for every student.
As for dropouts,Telangana recorded a secondary-level dropout rate of 5.8 per cent against a national rate of 9.5 per cent. Boys dropped out at 7.2 per cent and girls at 4.3, both comfortably under the national figures of 10.9 for boys and 8.0 per cent for girls.
Girls outperformed boys on enrolment ratios at every single level the report measured for 2025-26. The gross enrolment ratio for girls reached 118.4 at primary level against 115.9 for boys, 112.4 against 108 at upper primary, 107.9 against 102.4 at secondary, and 86.3 against 77.8 at higher secondary. Telangana's overall numbers beat the national average by a wide margin too with 117.1 against 89.4 at primary, 114.4 against 89.5 at elementary, 105.0 against 81.5 at secondary, and 81.9 against 61.7 at higher secondary.
According to the UDISE+ report, electricity was reaching 99.6 per cent of schools in the state, and toilets for both boys and girls crossed the 95 per cent mark. Digital libraries turn up in 92.4 per cent of Telangana's schools, against a national figure of just 7.1 per cent, a gap large enough that it deserved a second look at how states are defining a digital library in the first place.
Kitchen gardens cover only 55.1 per cent of schools, and solar panels appear in just 7.1 per cent, so the basics are largely in place while the sustainability-linked facilities lag well behind. Aadhaar seeding among enrolled students in the state stands at 94.7 per cent this year.