Facts & Statistics about Education in India

Statistics on Status of Child Education in India

The literacy ratio of India is 65.38% with male literacy at 75.85% and female literacy at 54.16%

Of the 193 million Children in the age group 6 to 14 years, 8.1 million children are out of school as of Sept 2004 as per Government statistics.
Net primary enrollment ratio in 2001/02 : 83 7%
Children reaching grade 5 in 2000/01 : 59 8 %

Ministry of Finance / Press Information Bureau Data

Number of Primary Schools in India : 0.664 million (2001-02)
Number Upper Primary Schools in India : 0.219 million
Population in the age group of 6-14 years : 193 Million
Secondary and Senior Secondary Schools : 0.133 million; Enrollment : 30.5 million
Findings from the Survey Social infrastructure like education is as important as physical infrastructure, not only for sustaining high growth but also for enhancing welfare. The root of poverty often lies in illiteracy.

Census of India 1991

State with highest literacy rate : Kerala (89.8)

State with lowest literacy rate : Bihar (38.5)

District with highest literacy rate : Kottayam, Kerala (95.7)

District with lowest literacy rate : Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh (19.0)

Facts on Education

• Less than half of India’s children between the age 6 and 14 go to school.
• A little over one-third of all children who enroll in grade one reach grade eight.
• At least 35 million children aged 6 – 14 years do not attend school.
• 53% of girls in the age group of 5 to 9 years are illiterate.
• In India, only 53% of habitation has a primary school.
• In India, only 20% of habitation has a secondary school.
• On an average an upper primary school is 3 km away in 22% of areas under habitations.
• In nearly 60% of schools, there are less than two teachers to teach Classes I to V.
• On an average, there are less than three teachers per primary school. They have to manage classes from I to V every day.
• High cost of private education and need to work to support their families and little interest in studies are the reasons given by 3 in every four drop-outs as the reason they leave.
• Dropout rates increase alarmingly in class III to V, its 50% for boys, 58% for girls.
• 1 in 40, primary school in India is conducted in open spaces or tents.
• In Andhra Pradesh (South India), 52 upper primary schools were operating without a building in 2002, while in 1993, there were none.
• In Maharashtra (West India), there were 10 schools operating without a building in 1993, this has climbed to 33 in 2002.
• More than 50 per cent of girls fail to enroll in school; those that do are likely to drop out by the age of 12.
• 50% of Indian children aged 6-18 do not go to school