While the government is in the process of implementing the new education policy, PRS Legislative Research has compiled data collected through various sources – district information system for education (DISE), statistics of higher and technical education 2012, national facts and figures, rashtriya madhyamik shiksha abhiyan (RMSA), key indicators of social consumption in India education, NSS 71st round. Here is a quick look at the scenario of education in our country:

• The enrolment in class 6 and above has been improving over the years. The gross enrolment in classes 1-5 reduced from 114 percent in 2008-09 to 99 percent in 2013-14. The above-100 percent enrolment indicates that students enrolled in these classes are either younger than six years or older than 10 years. In 2013-14, enrolment in classes 1-5 was about 100 percent, which shows a more age appropriate (six to 10 years) class composition. However, the enrolment in higher classes has declined.
• The enrolment rate in primary education is comparable to that of developed countries, however, it lacks behind for classes above 6. Enrolment in classes 6-8 is 82 percent in India compared to 100 percent in countries like China, UK and USA.
• In higher education, India’s enrolment rate stands at about 21 percent compared to above 60 percent in UK and Germany, and 95 percent in USA. China’s enrolment rate in higher education is slightly higher than India’s at 27 percent.
• The percentage of students who are able to advance to a next class is less in the higher secondary. So while 90 percent of students enter class 6, but only 67 percent go from class 10 to 11. Rests of the students are either held back or have dropped out of school.
• The proportion of students between classes 1-8 who dropped out of school in 2013-14 was 36 percent. However, the drop-out rate for the ST and SC student population was 48 percent and 39 percent, respectively. Also, the drop-out rates for all groups declined between 2009 and 2014.
• In 2013-14, the enrolment of girls (97 percent) was higher than that of boys (93 percent), while their drop-out rate (33 percent) is lower than that of boys (39 percent). So girls, who enter the education system between classes 1-8, are more likely to complete their elementary education.
• The recommended pupil-teacher ratio under the rashtriya madhyamik shiksha abhiyan for classes 9-12 is 30:1, which means one teacher for 30 students. However, there are several states which have ratio above the recommended level. These include Jharkhand (68:1), Bihar (57:1), Chhattisgarh (45:1), Uttar Pradesh (41:1), Madhya Pradesh (36:1), Gujarat (34:1) and Tripura (33:1).

The ministry of human resource development released a draft national education policy in July 2016 and invited comments and suggestions on the same. The initial deadline for this was July 31, 2016, but has been extended till September 15.