India has nearly solved one part of the school enrolment puzzle. The other remains stubbornly unsolved. The latest figures placed before Parliament reveal that while almost every girl now enters and stays in primary school, a significant number still fail to make it through secondary education. The transition from childhood to adolescence continues to be the point where thousands of educational journeys come to an abrupt halt.According to the Union Education Ministry’s response in the Lok Sabha, 8 per cent of girls enrolled in secondary school dropped out before completing their education in 2025–26. The figure marks an improvement from 12.6 per cent in 2023–24 and 9.6 per cent in 2024–25, yet it exposes a deeper concern: secondary education remains India’s weakest link in retaining girls.The data, sourced from the government’s Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+), was tabled by Minister of State for Education Jayant Chaudhary in response to a question raised by MP Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer.
A success story, until adolescence
The numbers tell two very different stories. At the primary level, girls are almost universally retained. The national dropout rate stands at a negligible 0.1 per cent. By upper primary, it rises modestly to 3.4 per cent.Then comes secondary school. The dropout rate more than doubles to 8 per cent, making it nearly 80 times higher than the primary-stage figure. The sharp jump suggests that India’s challenge is no longer persuading families to send daughters to school, it is ensuring they remain there once they reach adolescence.The pattern is strikingly consistent across much of the country. Girls largely stay in school during the early years. Some begin leaving between Classes 6 and 8. But the steepest decline comes around Classes 9 and 10, when many adolescents confront a combination of social expectations, financial pressures and limited educational support.It raises a difficult question: If India has managed to bring girls into classrooms, why is it still struggling to keep them there?
Poverty alone does not explain the trend
The Centre’s reply draws upon findings from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2023–24, identifying several reasons why girls discontinue schooling.Some leave to supplement family income. Others are pulled into household responsibilities. In many cases, parents no longer consider higher education necessary for daughters.These explanations point towards economic realities, but the state-wise figures suggest the issue is more complex than poverty alone.Ladakh recorded the country’s highest secondary-school dropout rate among girls at 15.6 per cent, followed by Assam and Karnataka (13.9 per cent each), Gujarat (13.3 per cent), and Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland (12.4 per cent each).The presence of relatively prosperous states alongside geographically challenging regions indicates that income is only one part of the equation. Access to secondary schools, transportation, safety concerns, social norms, early marriage and the burden of unpaid domestic work are likely intersecting factors influencing educational continuity.
Toilets are no longer the biggest hurdle
The parliamentary question that triggered the discussion centred on school sanitation facilities, an issue long associated with girls’ education. On this front, the government’s data presents a far more encouraging picture.According to UDISE+ 2025–26, 95.4 percent of government schools now have separate functional toilets for girls, covering more than 9.5 lakh schools nationwide. Delhi, Goa and Chandigarh reported complete coverage, while Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram lagged behind at 67.9 percent and 72.7 percent, respectively.Yet the Education Ministry stopped short of drawing a direct connection between toilet infrastructure and school retention.In its reply, the ministry stated that no central study has established a direct causal relationship between the availability of girls’ toilets and female dropout rates.Instead, it highlighted ongoing interventions under Samagra Shiksha, including financial support for sanitary pad vending machines and incinerators in schools. It also referred to a Health Ministry initiative that reaches 53.9 lakh adolescent girls every month through menstrual hygiene awareness campaigns and sanitary napkin distribution.
Beyond enrolment, the next education challenge
India’s education system has made undeniable progress over the past decade. Gender gaps in enrolment have narrowed considerably, and universal access to elementary education is increasingly becoming a reality.But the latest UDISE+ figures underline an uncomfortable truth: retention—not enrolment—is emerging as the country’s next education challenge.The transition into adolescence continues to expose structural inequalities that classrooms alone cannot solve. Economic vulnerability, caregiving responsibilities, gender norms and concerns around mobility often converge precisely when girls reach secondary school.The decline in dropout rates over the past three years is encouraging and reflects that policy interventions are having an impact. However, an 8 per cent dropout rate still represents thousands of girls whose education ends before they complete school.As policymakers celebrate improved enrolment and expanding infrastructure, the latest parliamentary data poses a larger question: Can India truly claim success in girls’ education if the journey still ends for one in every twelve girls before they finish secondary school?
