KOCHI: The total number of students joining Class 1 in state syllabus schools (government-aided and unaided) has declined to 2.5 lakh — down from 2.86 lakh last year. A decade ago, Class 1 saw new admissions of around 3.16 lakh students.
As per statistics published in the Sametham portal of the general education department, 59.29% of children in Kerala study in public schools (government/aided); 40.72% of the children depend on the unaided sector. This academic year saw a drop of 27,770 from last year. But what could be the reason?
Those in the school education sector point out two main reasons for this decrease. “Since it is Class I, the main reason behind the fall in numbers is the penchant of the parents to admit their wards in unaided schools, especially the other boards like the CBSE and ICSE,” said Amul Roy R P, former state programme officer for Samagra Shiksha Kerala. He said the second reason is the state’s falling fertility rate. “Over the years, it can be seen that the number of births has fallen drastically.”
Agreeing with Amul, Lida Jacob, former secretary with the general education department, said, “The situation is serious. For the numbers to fall from 3.16 lakh in 2016 to 2.5 lakh in 2026, things don’t bode well for school education in the state.
The fact that the number of live births is decreasing over the years also doesn’t help.” She pointed out that the answer to the question whether all children born in Kerala are opting for the state syllabus can be gleaned by comparing birth data with admissions.
In 2020, Kerala registered 4,53,000 live births, according to the state’s chief registrar of births and deaths. “Now, six years down the road, look at the total admissions to Class I.”
As per the data in Sametham, the total number of admissions to Class I is 2.5 lakh. From the difference, it can be understood that around 2 lakh children have sought admission in other boards.
Lida said that is one issue. “Now, with the fertility rate dropping, and consecutive years seeing the birth rate falling, the coming academic years will see even further decrease in the Class I admissions.”
In 2025, Kerala recorded roughly 3.1 to 3.2 lakh live births. This highlights an ongoing demographic shift, as the state experienced over a 13% drop in total deliveries compared to the previous year.
“This will, in turn, cause a division fall in the Lower Primary sections. There will be a domino effect. With the division fall comes the issue of the surplus teacher. And since an already appointed teacher has the privilege of being protected, the state government will have to come up with options.
But the big question will be how. Even as this will be happening, the Public Service Commission will keep on conducting the recruitment tests, pushing more teachers into the system,” said Lida.
She pointed out that the time has come to overhaul the entire system and come up with a scientific one that will be in tandem with the changing times.
However, even as the Class I admissions saw a drop, those in the High School went up. As per the Sametham data, the increase has been significant. In the 2026-27 academic year, state board schools got 8,718 new students in Class V, and 17,493 new admissions in Class VIII.