A recent report by NITI Aayog has flagged several concerns in Gujarat’s school education system, including single-teacher schools, schools with no students, rising dropout rates, and a shortage of classrooms.
According to the report, 2,936 schools across Gujarat are being run by just one teacher, who manages classes from Standards 1 to 8 while teaching multiple subjects. At the same time, 63 schools reportedly have zero students despite 78 teachers being posted there.
The report, titled School Education System in India: Temporal Analysis and Policy Roadmap for Quality Enhancement, also highlights infrastructure gaps and issues related to student retention in the state.
Data in the report shows that around 27.6% of students drop out before reaching Class 10, affecting nearly 2.3 lakh students. It further states that about 6.4 lakh children remained untracked this year.
In addition, Gujarat is said to be facing a shortage of nearly 42,000 classrooms.
Reacting to the findings, Manish Doshi criticised the state government’s education policies, alleging they have weakened public education in Gujarat. He claimed that 5,612 schools have been shut during BJP rule, particularly impacting students in rural areas.
Doshi also questioned how the state’s education budget of ₹63,134 crore is being utilised despite the reported shortages and challenges in the education sector.