Trends and Regional Disparities in School Education in India

India has achieved substantial expansion in school participation, teacher availability and educational infrastructure, yet national averages conceal pronounced differences in progression, learning and school resources across States and Union Territories. This study examines recent trends and regional disparities in Indian school education using secondary data from UDISE+ 2025–26, NITI Aayog’s decadal analysis of UDISE+ data for 2014–15 to 2024–25, and the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2024. The latest administrative data cover approximately 14.67 lakh schools, 24.72 crore students and 1.03 crore teachers. The analysis shows that the central challenge in Indian schooling is increasingly shifting from initial access to continued participation beyond the elementary stage, foundational learning, and equitable access to educational resources. Higher-secondary participation improved considerably during the last decade, but large interstate gaps persist. In 2024–25, secondary Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) ranged from 110.1 per cent in Chandigarh to 51.1 per cent in Bihar, while higher-secondary GER ranged from 107.4 per cent in Chandigarh to 38.1 per cent in Bihar. Transition from secondary to higher secondary ranged from 100 per cent in Delhi and Chandigarh to 47.8 per cent in Meghalaya. Digital infrastructure is similarly unequal: computer facilities were available in 100 per cent of schools in Lakshadweep but only 19.7 per cent in Meghalaya. Rural learning indicators recovered substantially after the pandemic, but ASER 2024 shows that foundational competencies remain uneven and incomplete. The findings suggest that India requires geographically differentiated interventions concentrating on secondary-stage retention, foundational learning, digital and physical infrastructure, and the intersection of regional and socioeconomic disadvantage.