In the current academic year, less than three out of five higher secondary level students attended government schools in rural areas, indicating a concerning trend of schoolchildren leaving state-run schools for better education, according to the Comprehensive Modular Survey: Education (CMS: E), 2025, which was released on Tuesday.

Even while the proportion of students attending government schools grows with their educational level in urban regions, it has decreased in both rural and urban areas during the last seven years. This is a comparison of the latest statistics with the results of the 75th national sample survey (NSS) released in 2019, which was the last government survey on education, Business Standard reports.

Data showed that 58.9 per cent of higher secondary students attended government schools in rural areas from April to June 2025, compared to 68 per cent from July 2017 to June 2018.

Meanwhile, in metropolitan areas, the proportion of students attending government institutions at the higher secondary level fell to 36.4 percent between April and June 2025, down from 38.9 percent in 2017-18.

This trend of students leaving government schools may be seen at all levels of education.

In urban areas, the share of students attending government schools at the primary, middle, and secondary levels was 27.2 per cent, 29.8 per cent, and 35.8 per cent, respectively, from April to June 2025, compared to 30.9 per cent, 38.1 per cent, and 38.9 per cent, respectively, in 2017-18.  

However, due to the current survey's changed methodology, which includes anganwaadi centres under pre-primary education, the share of students attending government schools at the pre-primary level increased in both rural and urban areas to 65.6 per cent and 24.1 per cent, respectively, in April to June 2025, up from 44.2 per cent and 13.9 per cent in 2017-18.

This means that, despite government efforts to increase enrolment at lower levels, students migrate away from government schools as they continue through their time in school.