CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu’s overall school enrolment declined for the second consecutive year in 2025-26, with government and government-aided schools continuing to lose students and private schools registering a rise in enrolment, according to the latest Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) report. A similar trend was recorded across the country.
The state’s total enrolment from pre-primary to higher secondary dropped to 1,24,02,872 in 2025-26 from 1,25,18,167 the previous year, a decline of 1,15,295 students. Since peaking at 1,29,93,050 in 2023-24, enrolment has fallen by nearly 5.9 lakh.
The decline was driven largely by the drop in enrolment in the elementary stage. Enrolment in Classes 1 to 8 fell from 76,39,104 in 2024-25 to 74,59,350 in 2025-26, a drop of nearly 1.8 lakh students. While Classes 1 to 5 recorded a decline of 71,643 students, Classes 6 to 8 saw enrolment fall by 1,08,111.
Officials attributed the overall decline to falling fertility rates and smaller birth cohorts, but said a detailed analysis would be required to determine why government and aided schools continue to lose students while private schools attract more admissions.
Government schools witnessed the sharpest fall, with enrolment dropping from 45.1 lakh in 2024-25 to 43.03 lakh in 2025-26, a decline of more than 2.07 lakh students. Government-aided schools lost over 83,000 students during the same period. In contrast, private schools added nearly 1.77 lakh students, taking their enrolment from 60.26 lakh to 62.03 lakh.
TN must increase teacher strength at primary level
The shift is also reflected in the share of students across school categories. The proportion of students studying in government schools declined from 39.1% in 2022-23 to 34.7% in 2025-26, while the private school share increased from 44% to 50%.
Government-aided schools also saw their share fall from 16.6% to 15.1%.
Teacher associations said parents are increasingly opting for private schools, particularly at the primary level, citing inadequate teacher strength in many government primary schools and the availability of kindergarten classes in private institutions.
“The government should increase teacher strength at the primary level and introduce more KG classes in government schools to attract more students,” said J Robert, State General Secretary of the Secondary Grade Seniority Teachers’ Association (SSTA).
The longer-term trend also points to a steady decline in elementary enrolment. Since 2022-23, primary enrolment has fallen by more than 3.7 lakh students, while upper primary enrolment has declined by nearly 1.78 lakh.
Fresh admissions to Class 1 also declined in 2025-26 after increasing for two consecutive years. Admissions dropped to 8,77,305 from 9,27,185 in 2024-25. The figure stood at 9,00,249 in 2023-24 and 8,96,957 in 2022-23.
Government schools admitted 2,44,671 students to Class 1 in 2025-26, down from 2,70,246 the previous year. Government-aided schools also registered a decline, with admissions falling from 91,694 to 85,034. Private schools admitted 5,44,625 students, lower than the 5,62,036 recorded in 2024-25, but they continued to account for the largest share of Class 1 admissions.
“The steady increase in private school enrolment shows the confidence of parents in these institutions,” said an office-bearer of a private school association. On key performance indicators, the Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) improved at the primary, secondary and higher secondary levels in 2025-26 but declined at the upper primary level, resulting in the overall elementary GER slipping marginally from 93.9% to 93.4%.
Similarly, the Net Enrolment Ratio (NER) improved at the primary, secondary and higher secondary stages but declined at the upper primary level, bringing the overall elementary NER down marginally from 90.4% to 90%.
While GER measures the total number of students enrolled in a specific level, regardless of age, divided by the population of the official age group for that level, NER only counts students who are in the official age for that specific grade level.
Admission dips again
Enrolment declined for the second year in a row, with govt and aided schools losing students and private schools registering a rise. The overall decline is largely due to the drop in enrolment at elementary level
