Enrolment to government primary schools and high schools across the State has shown a steady decline since the 2022-2023 academic year, according to data placed by the Department of School Education and Literacy before the Legislative Council on Monday. The enrolment has shown a decline by 10.38% in three years.
While 45.46 lakh students were enrolled during 2022-2023, the number dipped to 42.94 lakh by 2023- 2024, a decline by 2.52 lakh. The numbers have further fallen in 2024-2025 with an enrolment of 40.74 lakh, a further decline by 2.18 lakh.
Responding to a question from Congress member Anil Kumar, Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa told the House that several reasons could be attributed to the decline.
“Lack of bilingual school, absence of pre-primary classes that could attract students, shortage of teachers and poor maintenance of toilets were among the reasons for the declining numbers,” he said.
Measures taken
The department, he said, hopes to increase the enrolment with permission provided to 5,000 schools to start pre-primary classes, while teacher recruitment would be conducted. “Bilingual schools along with these measures would increase the enrolment,” the Minister said.
When members sought opening of Karnataka Public Schools (KPS) in urban areas, the Minister clarified that the schools were for rural areas that normally do not have required infrastructure.
On closure
While the Minister said that not one school had been closed owing ue to a lack of admission, the Hulikal Government High School in Tumakuru district had been closed owing to a shortage of students during the 2023-24 academic year, data showed.
