AHMEDABAD: An analysis of the Central Government's Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Progress Report has brought Gujarat's education sector under sharp scrutiny, revealing that the state lags behind the national average across multiple indicators of quality education.
Data on school completion rates, college enrollment, and classroom learning outcomes point to concerns over educational access and academic performance.
It has also raised questions over the effectiveness of the state's education policies.
The most striking finding is the Grade 12 completion rate, where Gujarat has recorded 50.82% in 2024-25, significantly below the national average of 61.14%.
The figures indicate that nearly one out of every two students (49.18%) in Gujarat do not complete higher secondary education. The difference of more than 10 percentage points highlights the state's struggle in retaining students until the end of their school education.
According to the report, Gujarat's Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER) in Higher Secondary Education stands at 47.3% in 2024-25, compared to the national average of 58.4%.
In simple terms, more than 52% of eligible students in Gujarat are not enrolled in higher secondary education, reflecting a significant gap in educational participation.
The transition from school to higher education appears even more challenging.
The report's provisional data for 2022-23 shows Gujarat's Gross Enrollment Ratio in tertiary (college) education at 26.2%, lower than the national average of 29.5%.
The data suggests that nearly 73.8% of eligible students are outside the formal higher education system, placing Gujarat at 23rd rank among all States and Union Territories in college enrolment.
The Net Enrollment Ratio in Gujarat stands at 77.9% at the primary level and 67.5% at the upper primary level, indicating that a sizeable number of children continue to remain outside the formal schooling system even before reaching secondary education.
However, the report's assessment of learning outcomes presents the most alarming trend.
According to the PARAKH National Survey, Gujarat students consistently score below the national average in achieving minimum academic proficiency in language and mathematics across Classes 3, 6 and 9.
In Class 3, only 46% of Gujarat students achieved minimum proficiency in language, compared to the national average of 61%, while 38% attained proficiency in mathematics against the national average of 54%.
The gap widens in Class 6, where Gujarat recorded 22% proficiency in language and 23% in mathematics, significantly below the national averages of 33% and 38%, respectively.
The most critical findings emerge from Class 9, where only 24% of Gujarat students demonstrated minimum proficiency in language, while mathematics proficiency plunged to a mere 3%.
Nationally, the corresponding figures stand at 31% in language and 11% in mathematics, highlighting a substantial learning deficit among secondary school students in the state.
The cumulative data suggest that Gujarat faces challenges at every stage of the education pipeline: retaining students in school, ensuring progression to higher secondary education, expanding college participation and improving classroom learning outcomes.
Gujarat Congress spokesperson Parthivraj Kathwadia, who presented the report in a Press Conference in Ahmedabad, alleged that the Central Government's own statistics expose the declining condition of education in Gujarat.
He said, "Gujarat's education sector requires structural reforms. The state must move beyond excessive privatisation and commercialisation of education. It should engage with educationists to build a robust, quality-driven education system for future generations."
The SDG report has once again shifted the focus from infrastructure and enrollment drives to the broader question of education quality, learning outcomes and student retention.
As Gujarat continues to project itself as a leader in economic development, the latest education indicators underline that strengthening human capital through quality schooling and higher education remains an equally pressing challenge.
