Over the last three academic years, a worrying trend has emerged across Andhra Pradesh. Under the pretext of school mergers and rationalization, hundreds of government-run and aided schools have shut their doors, leaving hundreds of thousands of students from economically weaker backgrounds without access to affordable education.
A closer look at the UDISE+ (Unified District Information System for Education Plus) data released by the Union Ministry of Education highlights the growing crisis in the state’s school education sector.
Alarming Drop in Government and Aided Schools
In just three years, a total of 972 government and aided schools have been shut down across the state. This includes 778 government schools and 194 aided schools. The situation has taken a sharp turn for the worse recently, with 644 schools closing down between the 2024–25 and 2025–26 academic years alone.
Simultaneously, student enrollment in government schools has seen a steep decline: 5,86,666 students have moved away from government-managed schools in the last three academic years.
School Distribution (2023–24 to 2025–26)
| Academic Year | Government Schools | Private Schools | Aided Schools | Others | Total Schools |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023–24 | 45,000 | 15,232 | 991 | 150 | 61,373 |
| 2024–25 | 44,886 | 15,473 | 838 | 120 | 61,317 |
| 2025–26 | 44,222 | 15,710 | 797 | 114 | 60,843 |
Shift in Student Enrollment
While government schools are experiencing a severe drop in enrollment, private schools are witnessing a steady increase.
| Sector | Enrollment (2023–24) | Enrollment (2025–26) | Net Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Government Schools | 40,50,116 | 34,93,450 | – 5,56,666 |
| Aided Schools | 1,25,484 | 95,710 | – 29,774 |
| Private Schools | 45,53,380 | 48,40,296 | + 2,86,916 |
Key Takeaways
- Rising Dominance of Private Schools: While government schools declined by 778 and aided schools by 194, private schools increased by 478 over the same period.
- Loss of Public School Enrollment: Combined government and aided school enrollment dropped from 41,75,600 in 2023–24 to 35,89,160 in 2025–26—a net loss of 5,86,440 students.
- Ongoing Decline: In the ongoing 2025–26 academic year, preliminary estimates indicate that government school enrollment has further dropped to around 32 lakh students, though final official figures are yet to be fully released by the department.
Education experts have expressed deep concern over these policy shifts, warning that shutting down local government schools pushes poor families toward expensive private education, increasing financial strain on rural and underprivileged households.
