Bhubaneswar, 2nd Sept 2025: The government has been implementing various schemes to reduce school dropout rates. While there has been a significant decrease in dropout rates at the national level, Odisha is witnessing a rise. In other words, more children in Odisha are dropping out of school midway. During the 2023–24 academic year, the dropout rate at the secondary level was 9.1%, which has now increased to 9.8%. This means that nearly 10 out of every 100 students are dropping out.
This information has been published in the Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) 2024–25 report released by the Union Ministry of Education. The report is prepared based on the framework of the National Education Policy (NEP).
Dropout Rate Falling at the National Level
More enrollments in government schools than private schools
Some schools are being run by only one teacher
According to the report, the dropout rate at the national level has decreased compared to the previous year. In 2023–24, the dropout rate at the secondary level was 10.9%, which dropped to 8.2% in 2024–25. Similarly, at the upper primary level, it declined from 5.2% to 3.5%. At the primary level, it dropped from 3.7% to 2.3%.
In Odisha, during the 2023–24 academic year, the dropout rate was:
Primary level: 0.5%
Upper Primary: 1.7%
High School: 9.1%
This increased in 2024–25 to:
Primary: 1.4%
Upper Primary: 3.2%
Secondary: 9.8%
Neighboring States Show Improvement
Neighboring states like Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh have recorded a decrease in dropout rates compared to the 2023–24 academic year. Not only these two, but several states like Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Assam have also shown improvement.
More Than Just Dropout Rates
The report also mentions that Odisha had 61,565 schools where 76.44 lakh (7.64 million) children were studying. There were 3,44,116 teachers, meaning on average, one teacher is available for every 22 students. While the national average student-teacher ratio is 24:1, Odisha is in a relatively better position compared to neighboring states.
There are 1,089 schools in Odisha where only one teacher is appointed, and these schools have a total of 47,940 students. That means, in these schools, one teacher is responsible for teaching around 44 students on average.
Preference for Government Schools
There has been a rise in new enrollments in government schools. A total of 4,27,271 children enrolled in government schools for Class 1, compared to only 1,62,737 students in private schools.