Nearly 2K government schools shut or merged in Karnataka since 2014-15

The Centre maintained that the Right to Education Act requires states to ensure neighbourhood schools and provide free and compulsory elementary education.

Minister of state for Education Jayant Chaudhary said that education is a concurrent subject and decisions relating to the opening, closure and rationalisation of schools are taken by the respective state governments. (Express illustration)

MANGALURU: Karnataka saw the closure or merger of nearly 2,000 government schools over the past 12 years, according to data tabled in the Rajya Sabha by the Union Ministry of Education. The UDISE+ data shows that Karnataka’s government schools declined from 50,486 in 2014-15 to 48,527 in 2025-26, a net reduction of 1,959 schools.

Among southern states, Telangana recorded one of the sharpest declines, with the number of government schools falling from 29,268 to 28,088, while Andhra Pradesh saw a drop from 46,666 to 44,222. Kerala reported a marginal decline from 5,104 to 4,809, whereas Tamil Nadu remained largely stable, with schools reducing only from 37,911 to 37,539.

Across India, the number of government schools fell from 11.07 lakh in 2014-15 to 10.05 lakh in 2025-26, a decline of more than 1.01 lakh schools. Outside the South, some of the steepest reductions were reported in Madhya Pradesh (from 1.21 lakh to 91,199 schools), Uttar Pradesh (1.62 lakh to 1.37 lakh), Odisha (58,697 to 48,603), Assam (52,927 to 44,550) and Maharashtra (67,717 to 64,571).

Responding to a question by Rajya Sabha member Javed Ali Khan, Minister of state for Education Jayant Chaudhary said that education is a concurrent subject and decisions relating to the opening, closure and rationalisation of schools are taken by the respective state governments.

The Centre maintained that the Right to Education Act requires states to ensure neighbourhood schools and provide free and compulsory elementary education.

The ministry did not attribute closures to any single factor. However, it argued that school access has improved, despite the reduction in the number of institutions. According to UDISE+, the Gross Access Ratio increased across all stages of schooling between 2018-19 and 2024-25.

Access to higher secondary schools improved significantly from 65.05% to 94.97%, while secondary school access rose from 88.24% to 95.35%. The ministry also said that Gross Enrolment Ratios remain high among Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes at the primary and upper primary levels.