News Brief
Enforcement Effect? Madrasa Enrolments Drop 87 Per Cent In Unrecognised Schools, Increase 7 Per Cent In Recognised Ones
A madrasa (representative image) (Photo by Burhaan Kinu/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)
India's school enrolment numbers have dropped significantly, with the total student population in schools declining by 1.22 crore between 2018-19 and 2023-24, according to data from the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE).
While officials attribute this decline to the elimination of duplicate and ghost entries using Aadhaar-based verification and unique student IDs, the new data collection method has disproportionately affected Madrasa enrolments.
Key Declines Across School Categories
Government Schools: Enrolment fell from 13.1 crore to 12.7 crore.
Government-Aided Schools: Numbers declined from 2.7 crore to 2.5 crore.
Private Schools: Student strength dropped from 9.2 crore to 9 crore.
Other Schools: Enrolment plummeted from 90 lakh to 49 lakh.
Recognised Madrasas: Enrolment dropped from 30 lakh to 25 lakh, a 16 per cent decline.
Unrecognised Madrasas: Numbers fell drastically from 6.1 lakh to 78,283, marking an 87 per cent decline.
Interestingly, the number of recognised Madrasa schools increased by 7 per cent, and the number of teachers in these schools rose by 13 per cent, despite a 16 per cent drop in student enrolment.
In 2022, data from the Madrasa Education Council revealed a decline of over three lakh students in secondary and senior secondary classes over six years in Uttar Pradesh.
The decline was largely attributed to poor quality of education and teaching methods, inadequate infrastructure that often fails to meet basic standards and limited Recognition of certificates issued by Madrasas in mainstream job markets.
