NEW DELHI : An average of 13 schools closed every day across India during the 2025-26 academic year, with Madhya Pradesh accounting for more than half of all school closures, according to the latest Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) report released by the Ministry of Education.
The report shows that 4,791 schools closed across the country during the year. Of these, 2,426 schools were in Madhya Pradesh, making it the state with the highest number of closures.
The total number of schools in India declined from 14,71,473 in 2024-25 to 14,66,682 in 2025-26. Apart from Madhya Pradesh, Telangana recorded 1,392 school closures, followed by West Bengal (568), Andhra Pradesh (474), Tamil Nadu (369), Karnataka (281), and Himachal Pradesh (266).
Some States Added Schools Despite Declining Enrolment While the number of schools fell in several states, others registered an increase. Bihar added 946 schools, followed by Chhattisgarh (234) and Delhi (87) during the same period.
However, all three states witnessed a decline in student enrolment. Bihar recorded the steepest drop, with 4,37,037 fewer students than the previous year. Enrolment declined by 49,459 students in Chhattisgarh and 45,250 students in Delhi.
Zero-Enrolment Schools Decline For The First Time
The report also records the first-ever decline in the number of schools with no students enrolled. Their number fell from 7,993 in 2024-25 to 5,663 in 2025-26.
Despite having no students, these schools continue to employ 20,667 teachers across the country.
West Bengal reported an increase of 321 zero-enrolment schools during the year. The state now has 4,133 schools without a single enrolled student, where 19,502 teachers remain posted despite having no students to teach.
In Uttar Pradesh, the number of zero-enrolment schools increased from 81 in 2024-25 to 313 in 2025-26. The number of teachers posted in these schools also rose from 56 to 177.
Chhattisgarh recorded a notable shift. The state had no zero-enrolment schools in 2024-25 but reported 149 such schools in 2025-26, employing 140 teachers.
