NEW DELHI: The dropout rate of students in schools witnessed a sharp and steady decline at critical stages of learning, according to the USIDE 2025-26 report released by the Ministry of Education, even as the student retention rate declined marginally at the pre-primary and preparatory levels.UDISE+ (Unified District Information System for Education Plus) is the Government of India’s official digital database for the education sector. Maintained by the Ministry of Education, it collects real-time statistics on school infrastructure, student enrollment and faculty metrics.“The academic year 2025-26 has seen a notable reduction in drop-out rates at preparatory and secondary levels compared to the previous years: 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25.“At preparatory level, the dropout rate decreased from 2.3% in 2024-25 to 1.8% in 2025-26, and at secondary level from 8.2% to 7.0%,” the report said.“This downward trend highlights the improvement in student retention and reflects the success of initiatives aimed at keeping children engaged in their education.“The steady decline across the board suggests that schools are becoming more supportive and responsive to the needs of students,” he added.The 2025-26 academic year has shown a positive trend in the retention of students at the middle and secondary levels, going from 82.8% (2024-25) to 83.7% (2025-26) at the middle level and from 47.2% (2024-25) to 51.9% (2024-25) at the ESO.“A marginal decline was seen at entry and preparatory levels in 2025-26, following three consecutive years of improvement from 2022-23 to 2024-25.“One of the key factors contributing to this improvement, especially at secondary level, is the increase in the number of schools offering secondary education.“This expansion has improved accessibility and encouraged continued enrollment. In general, increased retention rates are a strong indicator of progress in the education system and reflect the impact of targeted interventions,” the report says.During the academic year 2025-26 there has been a considerable improvement in the Gross Enrollment Ratio (GRT) at secondary level, from 68.5% in 2024-25 to 71.7% in 2025-26.The report is based on the voluntary upload of data by centers that have active UDISE+ codes in the academic year 2025-26 (reference year), with 31 March 2026 as the deadline.Data is populated using the Online Data Capture Format (DCF).For the first time in an academic year, the total number of school teachers across the country exceeded 1.02 million in 2025-26, the report said.“Increasing the number of teachers is a critical step in improving student-teacher ratios, ensuring quality education and addressing regional disparities in teacher availability.“The numbers have been steadily increasing since 2022-23. There has been an 8.3 per cent increase in the number of teachers in the reporting year (2025-26) compared to 2022-23,” he said.