Four in 10 Indian schoolchildren were enrolled in private unaided schools in 2025-26, up from 35.4% in 2018-19, according to Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE+) data.
Private-school enrolment increased by about 3 million in the past year, while government schools—where 48% of children are enrolled—saw their numbers decline by about 2.7 million.
In 12 states and two Union territories (UTs), more than half the students went to private schools. Bihar, Goa and Jharkhand had less than 20% enrolment in private schools, while West Bengal had under 10%.
Parents are increasingly choosing private schools at lower levels: 71% students in pre-primary or kindergarten and 40% in primary (grades I to V) were in private schools. In contrast, about 10% of students at the primary level were in government schools.
Research studies show, and experts say, that perceptions of learning, affordability, school performance and availability of English-medium instruction affect parents’ choices.
Choosing a private school also comes at a higher cost. Average annual education-related expenditure was Rs 28,693 per student in private schools, compared with Rs 2,863 in government schools, as ISignal reported in April 2026.
In three charts, we examine the changing pattern of India’s school enrolment.
Private enrolment recovers after pandemic
The number of students in private unaided schools increased from 92.2 million in 2018-19 to 98.9 million in 2025-26. Government-school enrolment fell from 131.1 million to 118.9 million during the same period. The pandemic interrupted these trends, and since then, government-school enrolment has declined each year, while private-school enrolment has recovered.
The number of government schools also declined by 78,500 over this period to reach 1.01 million in 2025-26, with the largest decline (more than 51,000) seen in 2019-20. The private sector, in contrast, saw a net increase of about 15,000 schools, adding up to about 342,000 schools in 2025-26, UDISE+ data show.
A 2019 review of private schooling in India noted that the growth was linked to demand from parents and that low-fee private schools account for a substantial part of the sector.
Private-school students also performed better than government-school students in reading and arithmetic, although the gap was narrowing, as ISignal reported in August 2025.
“There is dissatisfaction among parents, particularly with municipal, corporation and Zilla Parishad schools, and private-school enrolment is a reaction to that,” said Heramb Kulkarni, retired principal, educationist and social activist based in Maharashtra, calling the choice “a kind of negative voting”.
“It is not that private schools are necessarily of better quality,” he added. “There is no proper system to monitor them either. Even there, children may not learn to write properly, and teachers may not be very well trained.”
The state picture
Among larger states, Telangana recorded the highest share of private-school enrolment at 64.5% in 2025-26, followed by Haryana and Uttarakhand at about 62%.
On the other end, Bihar's private-school share rose from 10.2% in 2018-19 to 14.8% in 2025-26, while West Bengal's fell from 11.4% to 6.3%.
“Earlier, people in Bihar did not go towards private schools. But after the Right to Education, in recent years, gradually there has been a growing understanding that education is necessary,” said Anil Kumar Roy, convener of the RTE Forum Bihar.
A 2023 survey of government schools in Bihar found that two-thirds of primary schools and almost all upper-primary schools in its sample had pupil-teacher ratios above 30. Attendance was 23% in primary and 20% in upper-primary schools, and 90% of primary schools lacked a proper boundary wall, playground or library.
Roy said affordability could be one reason for Bihar's relatively low private-school enrolment. “Bihar is the poorest state. If a family's income is Rs 6,000 a month, how can a family survive? For such families, government schools remain the option,” Roy said.
He explained that the shortage of subject-specific teachers is pushing some families out. “Concerned parents are taking their children out, saying the studies are not happening here, and sending them to a place where they believe the teaching will happen,” he explained.
Both Bihar and West Bengal show a high reliance on private tuition. The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) 2022 data found that 71.5% of children in grades I-VIII in rural Bihar and 73.9% in West Bengal took paid tuition classes, among the highest rates in the country.
Changes across grades
Private schools accounted for 64.5% of higher-secondary schools in 2025-26, compared with 23.9% of secondary schools and 10.4% of primary schools. At the primary level, private school enrolment increased from 32% in 2021-22 to 39.9% in 2025-26. At the secondary level, it rose from 33.3% to 35.9%.
Among students from marginalised caste groups, enrolment is higher in government schools compared to private institutions. In 2024-25, Scheduled Caste students accounted for 22.8% of government-school enrolment while Scheduled Tribes students made up 13.9%. In comparison, their share in private schools is roughly half: 12.1% among SC and 4.9% from ST communities.
General-category students, by contrast, made up 36.4% of private-school enrolment, nearly double their 20.1% share in government schools.
Other Backward Classes account for 43.2% of government-school enrolment and 46.6% of private-school enrolment in 2024-25.
Parental perceptions affect choices
English-medium institutions accounted for 43.9% of private schools in 2024-25, up from 38.2% in 2019-20. Their share of enrolment increased from 51% to 60.7% during the same period.
In government schools, English-medium institutions accounted for 6.4% of schools and 8.3% of enrolment in 2024-25.
A NITI Aayog report on India's school education system said the shift towards private schools reflects parental aspirations for better outcomes, with perceptions around English-medium instruction, discipline and employability driving some of the demand. It also raised concerns about quality, equity and regulation in the private sector.
“People feel that if their children want to become doctors or engineers, these courses are in English. So parents feel that if their children are to get these opportunities, they must go to an English-medium school,” said Kulkarni. “The real challenge is how to change this perception among parents.”
Parents' preference for private schools may also be linked to perceptions of better learning outcomes. Private-school students performed better than government-school students in reading and arithmetic, although the gap was narrowing as government-school students made larger gains, as ISignal reported in August 2025.
In addition, private schooling is also associated with social status, Kulkarni said. “There is this tendency for the lower class to imitate the upper class. Wealthy people started sending their children to international or other English-medium schools. Then government employees started imitating them, and eventually even a person like a utensil seller thought that if his child went to such a school, the child's development would be better,” he said.
Regulation and accountability
The National Education Policy 2020 recognised the role of private and philanthropic schools but noted concerns over the commercialisation and economic exploitation of parents by some for-profit private schools.
The NITI Aayog report also raised concerns around quality, equity and regulation in the private sector, noting the absence of a national system for periodic accreditation, performance benchmarking and public disclosure of learning outcomes.
“Accountability is the most important issue. Teachers are getting a good salary, but is there continuous monitoring of their work? A teacher should know that if they don't do their work, there can be consequences,” Kulkarni said. “But in the government system, there is no such fear that their job will be affected. Accountability for teaching children is necessary. Is your salary linked to your performance? It is not.”
Roy also pointed to examples of government schools that are functioning well. “There are examples of good government schools. I know one school in the state, and it is so good that even during the summer holidays, the children continue to study there. Such examples should be promoted and appreciated," he said.
ISignal has reached out to the Ministry of Education for comment on measures to change parents’ perceptions of government schools and improve school quality and learning outcomes. We will update this report when we receive a response.
This article was originally published on IndiaSpend and has been republished here with permission.