NITI Aayog has released a policy report titled ‘School Education System in India: Temporal Analysis and Policy Roadmap for Quality Enhancement’, presenting a decade-long assessment of the country’s school education sector and a framework for improving quality.

The report was released on May 6 by Vice Chairman Suman Bery and Chief Executive Officer Nidhi Chhibber.

Drawing on data from UDISE+ 2024–25, PARAKH Rashtriya Sarvekshan 2024, NAS 2017 and 2021, and ASER 2024, the document evaluates progress across access, infrastructure, equity, inclusion, digital integration and learning outcomes. It is also informed by a national workshop on quality school education convened by NITI Aayog in February 2025.

India’s school education system comprises 14.71 lakh schools serving over 24.69 crore students. The report notes improvements in infrastructure, including access to electricity, sanitation and inclusive facilities, alongside expanded digital access through computers, internet connectivity and smart classrooms.

It records gains in equity, including increased participation of girls and higher enrolment of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe students. The report also indicates recovery in learning outcomes, particularly in foundational literacy and numeracy, following disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The findings are linked to ongoing policy initiatives such as the National Education Policy 2020, NIPUN Bharat Mission and Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan.

The report identifies 11 key challenges across systemic and academic areas and sets out a policy roadmap with 13 recommendations. These include reforms in school structure, infrastructure strengthening, governance and administrative capacity building, teacher deployment and training, and expansion of digital learning.

Academic recommendations focus on pedagogy, assessment reforms, foundational learning, student wellbeing, vocational education, early childhood care and education, and the integration of artificial intelligence in teaching.

The roadmap includes 33 implementation pathways across short-, medium- and long-term timelines, with defined responsibilities at central, state and local levels. It also proposes more than 125 performance indicators to monitor progress.

The report includes case studies of practices at central, state and district levels.

Inputs from PIB Delhi

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