SRINAGAR: The number of government schools in Jammu and Kashmir fell from 23,874 in 2014-15 to 18,787 in 2025-26, a decline of 5,087 schools or about 21.3 per cent, according to UDISE+ data presented by the Union Ministry of Education in the Rajya Sabha.
Ladakh, for which separate figures are available from 2019-20 following its creation as a Union Territory, recorded a decline from 913 government schools in 2019-20 to 733 in 2025-26, a reduction of 180 schools or nearly 19.7 per cent.
The data shows that the sharpest fall in Jammu and Kashmir’s government school numbers occurred between 2020-21 and 2022-23, when the count dropped from 23,167 to 18,785, a reduction of 4,382 schools. The number has remained unchanged at 18,785 in 2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25, before rising marginally to 18,787 in 2025-26.
In Ladakh, the number of government schools declined from 915 in 2020-21 to 733 in 2025-26. The count stood at 838 in 2021-22, 841 in 2022-23 and 2023-24, and 812 in 2024-25 before falling further last year.
The figures were provided by Union Minister of State for Education Jayant Chaudhary in response to a Rajya Sabha question on the reported closure of government schools across the country.
The Ministry, however, did not attribute the decline in Jammu and Kashmir or Ladakh to a specific cause such as low enrolment, infrastructure shortages, teacher shortages or school merger policies. It said that the opening, closing and rationalisation of schools fall within the jurisdiction of respective State Governments and UT Administrations.
The Centre also said the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 requires governments to ensure access to elementary education and the availability of neighbourhood schools within notified areas or limits.
At the national level, the number of government schools declined from 11,07,101 in 2014-15 to 10,05,245 in 2025-26, a reduction of 1,01,856 schools or about 9.2 per cent. The decline in Jammu and Kashmir, at around 21.3 per cent, was therefore more than twice the national rate over the period for which comparable data is available.
The national count fell from 10,32,049 schools in 2020-21 to 10,05,245 in 2025-26. The Ministry’s data also shows significant variations among States and UTs. Uttar Pradesh had the highest number of government schools in 2025-26 at 1,37,103, followed by Bihar with 76,435, Rajasthan with 69,983, Maharashtra with 64,571 and Chhattisgarh with 48,853.
The Ministry said UDISE+ data indicates improvement in access to school education nationally despite changes in the number of government schools. The Gross Access Ratio (GAR) at the primary level increased from 97.15 per cent in 2018-19 to 97.83 per cent in 2024-25, while the upper-primary ratio rose from 96.49 per cent to 96.57 per cent.
The biggest national improvement was recorded at the secondary and higher-secondary levels, where GAR increased from 88.24 per cent to 95.35 per cent and from 65.05 per cent to 94.97 per cent, respectively, between 2018-19 and 2024-25.
The Ministry defines GAR as the proportion of villages and habitations having a school within the specified norms in a given year.
According to UDISE+ 2025-26 data, the national Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) was 89.4 per cent at primary level, 89.6 per cent at upper-primary, 81.5 per cent at secondary and 61.7 per cent at higher-secondary level.
For Scheduled Caste students, the GER stood at 88.7 per cent in primary, 94.7 per cent in upper-primary, 86.2 per cent in secondary and 62.9 per cent in higher-secondary education. For Scheduled Tribe students, the corresponding figures were 98.0 per cent, 98.7 per cent, 85.4 per cent and 55.9 per cent.
The Centre said it supports States and UTs through the Samagra Shiksha scheme and the PM POSHAN programme, besides providing financial assistance for measures aimed at reducing dropout and increasing enrolment in government schools.
These measures include opening and strengthening schools up to senior-secondary level, improving infrastructure, establishing and upgrading Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas, residential schools and hostels, transport assistance, enrolment drives, seasonal hostels and residential camps, skill education and ICT facilities, and providing free textbooks, uniforms and transport or escort facilities.
The Ministry also highlighted the PM SHRI scheme, which aims to develop more than 14,500 selected schools as exemplar institutions demonstrating the initiatives of the National Education Policy 2020.
The Rajya Sabha reply did not provide a year-wise breakdown of individual school closures in Jammu and Kashmir or Ladakh, nor did it specify how many schools were closed because of low enrolment, infrastructure issues, teacher shortages or merger policies. It also did not provide a separate assessment of the impact of school closures on SC, ST, OBC and EWS students in the two Union Territories.
The Centre said the RTE Act’s neighbourhood-school provisions, along with schemes such as Samagra Shiksha, PM POSHAN and PM SHRI, are intended to support continued access to education and address challenges related to enrolment, infrastructure and school retention.
