Lok Sabha Question No. 5964 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-30
Subject: Data of Dropout Rates in Schools
Ministry: EDUCATION
Asked by: Smt. Pratima Mondal

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF SCHOOL EDUCATION & LITERACY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO-5964

ANSWERED ON 30.03.2026

## Data of Dropout Rates in Schools

5964. Smt. Pratima Mondal:

Will the Minister of EDUCATION be pleased to state:

- (a) the data on dropout rates at secondary and higher secondary levels, particularly among girls and marginalised communities, State/UT-wise;
- (b) whether students in rural and low-income households lack reliable digital access for blended learning models, if so, the details of percentage of such students;
- (c)  whether  the  Government  has  any  independently  verified  data  to  demonstrate  measurable improvement in foundational literacy and numeracy across Government schools in the country; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION (SHRI JAYANT CHAUDHARY)

(a): The Department of School Education and Literacy (DoSEL), Ministry of Education has developed the  Unified  District  Information  System  for  Education  Plus  (UDISE+)  system  to  record  data  on indicators of school education provided by all the States and Union Territories. Dropout rate is calculated at primary, Upper Primary and secondary level of education. As per UDISE+ 2024-25, State/UT-wise dropout rate among girls and marginalised groups, such as Schedule Castes (SC) and Schedule Tribes (ST) for secondary level of education is available at https://www.education.gov.in/en/parl\_ques.

(b) to (d): To bridge the digital divide in education, especially after the pandemic, a comprehensive initiative called e-VIDYA is in place which unifies all efforts related to digital/online/on-air education to enable multi-mode access to education. The key components of this initiative are DIKSHA - the nation's digital infrastructure, 200 PM e-VIDYA DTH TV Channels to provide supplementary education in various Indian languages for classes 1 st to 12 th , ePathshala initiative to disseminate Digital Books and eContents, eJaadui Pitara digital app to supplement and complement the physical Jaadui Pitara, a vertical on Virtual Labs created on DIKSHA platform where Virtual Labs for Science and Mathematics for subjects Class 6 th to 12 th have been made available, Samagra Shiksha also has provision of ICT Labs & Smart  Classrooms  in  Schools  of  Grade  VI  and  above.  There  are  various  AI  features  available  on DIKSHA  -  Ask  DIKSHA  (Chat  with  Books),  Video  Keyword  Search,  Read  Aloud  and  AI-bases Transition, useful for Personalize Adaptive Learning (PAL).

The  PARAKH  Rashtriya  Sarvekshan  2024,  conducted  in  December  2024  by  the  National Assessment  Centre,  PARAKH  (NCERT),  under  the  Ministry  of  Education,  assessed  baseline competency development in students of Grades 3, 6, and 9 as per the National Education Policy 2020. By meticulously assessing competencies in critical subjects like Language, Mathematics, Science, Social Science and The World Around Us, assessment is to provide comprehensive insights into the educational journey of the learners. Over 21.15 lakh students and 2.70 lakh teachers from more than 74,000 schools across  781  districts  participated.  National,  State,  and  District-level  report  cards  are  available  at https://dashboard.parakh.ncert.gov.in/en. Previously, the government of India has conducted National Achievement Survey (NAS) in 2021, with an objective  to  evaluate  students  learning  outcomes  and competencies. The class wise, subject wise and management wise details of performance of students at National, State/UT and District level are available at https://nas.gov.in/report-card/2021.