Indore, September 4: A recent report highlights a significant crisis in the education sector of Madhya Pradesh, where over 51% of schools have been closed or merged due to low enrollment. This alarming trend has resulted in approximately 2.6 million students dropping out of school across the country.
Despite claims of improving educational standards, the number of school closures continues to rise. In the last decade, more than 94,000 schools have shut down nationwide, with Madhya Pradesh accounting for the highest number of closures.
According to the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE), the dropout rate in government schools has been steadily increasing over the past five years. Enrollment dropped from 12.15 crore in the 2024-25 academic year to 11.89 crore in 2025-26, while private school enrollment has seen a rise during the same period.
In Madhya Pradesh alone, 15.25 lakh students were reported missing from schools last year, with an additional 11.12 lakh expected to drop out this year. Many of these children have not enrolled in new schools after leaving their previous ones, making it challenging to track their status.
The state’s education portal registered 1.35 crore students for the 2025-26 session, while UDISE reported 1.52 crore, indicating a discrepancy of 17 lakh. Officials attribute this difference to the inclusion of pre-primary data in the UDISE figures.
Retention rates for classes 1 to 12 in Madhya Pradesh stand at 37.3%, significantly lower than the national average of 51.9%. This data reveals that by the time students reach the 12th grade, 62.7% have dropped out of the educational system.
Notably, Madhya Pradesh has seen 50.6% of the country’s school closures, with 2,426 government schools either closed or merged during the 2025-26 academic year. The closure of schools has increased the distance students must travel to attend school, often requiring them to walk 1 to 5 kilometers without transportation facilities.
The burden of increased travel distances and safety concerns has forced many low-income families to withdraw their children from education or enroll them in private schools.
Indore has recorded the highest number of dropouts, with 45,233 students missing from schools, followed by Morena, Gwalior, Bhopal, and Sagar.
Recently, protests erupted in Ujjain against the decision to shift Sarafa Girls School to Daudkhedi, as students expressed concerns over the increased distance of 10 kilometers, making it difficult for them to attend school.
Following the protests, the administration acknowledged a drop in student numbers at the school, with enrollment decreasing from 580 to 415 after the relocation announcement.
In response to the dropout crisis, the Additional Director of Education reported that 316,000 out-of-school children have been re-enrolled for the 2026-27 academic year through a child tracking system.