What is the story about?
The Ministry of Education has highlighted a sharp decline in school dropout rates over the period of last 12 years, pointing to improvements in efforts
aimed at keeping students in school and supporting their continued education. Through an official X post, the Education Ministry emphasized the dropout rate at the primary level fell from 4.67% in 2013-14 to 0.3% in 2025-26. At the secondary level, covering Classes 9 and 10, the rate declined from 14.54% to 9.5% during the same period.
The Ministry also stated in the post, that the decline in the dropout rate shows the efforts to retain students in schools and support their education progression.
What Does UDISE+ 2025-26 Reveal?
According to the latest UDISE+ 2025-26 (Table 6.11 of the report), India's overall dropout rate stood at 1.8% at the preparatory level, 3.6% at the middle level and 7.0% at the secondary level.
| Level of Education | Boys | Girls | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preparatory (Classes III–V) | 2.0% | 1.6% | 1.8% |
| Middle (Classes VI–VIII) | 3.8% | 3.4% | 3.6% |
| Secondary (Classes IX–XII) | 8.3% | 5.7% | 7.0% |
The data clearly reflects that secondary education has recorded the highest dropout rate among all the three levels of schooling. The rate for boys was comparatively higher than of girls at the secondary level, at 8.3% and 5.7%, respectively.
Dropout Rate Improves at Preparatory and Secondary Levels
A comparison between the latest (UDISE+ 2025-26) and the previous year (UDISE+ 2024-25) report shows that the dropout rate at the preparatory level has declined from 2.3% to 1.8%, which records a reduction of 0.5 percentage points.
At the secondary level a decline of 1.2 percentage points was observed as the rate fell from 8.2% in 2024-25 to 7.0% in 2025-26. At the same time, the middle-level dropout rate saw a marginal increase from 3.5% to 3.6%.
| Level | 2024–25 | 2025–26 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preparatory | 2.3% | 1.8% | ↓ 0.5 percentage points |
| Middle | 3.5% | 3.6% | ↑ 0.1 percentage points |
| Secondary | 8.2% | 7.0% | ↓ 1.2 percentage points |
Girls Continue to Record Lower Dropout Rates
According to the 2025-26 report, girls have recorded a lower dropout rate compared to boys at all three levels, which include preparatory, middle and secondary.
At the preparatory level, the dropout rate recorded for the boys was at 2.0% and 1.6% for girls. At the middle level, boys recorded a 3.8% dropout rate while girls stood at 3.4%.
The gender gap became wider at the secondary level, where the dropout rate was 8.3% for boys compared with 5.7% for girls.
While the Ministry's 12-year figures revealed a long-term decline in school dropouts, the latest UDISE+ data shows that secondary education secures the highest dropout rate, making student retention at this level an important area of focus.
