Telangana loses 1,969 government schools in a year as private schools gain ground
UDISE+ data shows private school enrolment has surged 41% over past decade, taking their share of total enrolment to 64.5%. Government school enrolment, meanwhile, has declined by over 8%
In 2025-26, the number of government schools in Telangana dropped by 1,969, while private schools increased by 771, according to the Department of School Education’s Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) data. This trend becomes more evident when looking at data from the past decade, with private schools gaining prominence among parents and students while government schools' role declines.
Between 2016-17 and 2025-26, the total number of schools in Telangana fell from 43,134 to 41,762, a 3.2% decrease. However, overall student enrolment rose by 16.8%, with private schools experiencing a 41% increase and government schools facing an 8.2% decline. The gap is also visible in the number of schools, with private schools growing from 12,573 in 2016-17 to 13,245 in 2025-26, a 5.3% rise, while government schools decreased from 29,427 to 28,088, a 4.6% decline.
Aided schools, in particular, saw a significant decline, with their numbers dropping almost in half from 756 to 392, a 48% reduction. Despite the decline in government schools, the government teaching workforce expanded, with the number of teachers growing from 2,43,233 in 2016-17 to 3,70,756 in 2025-26, a 52% increase. Private schools accounted for most of this growth, doubling their teaching workforce from 1,04,853 in 2016-17 to 2,11,740 in 2025-26.
Aided schools, feeling the impact of their shrinking presence, saw their teaching strength fall from 3,618 in 2016-17 to 2,704 in 2025-26, a 25% decrease. Overall student enrolment in Telangana rose from 65.7 lakh in 2016-17 to 76.8 lakh in 2025-26, with most of the growth absorbed by private schools, where enrolment increased from 35.1 lakh to 49.5 lakh, a 41% rise.
Government schools experienced a decline in enrolment from 28.9 lakh to 26.5 lakh, more than an 8% drop. Aided schools saw an even steeper fall, with enrolment almost halving from 1.34 lakh to under 70,000, a 48% reduction. Private schools now account for 64.5% of total student enrolment, up from 53.4% in 2016-17, while government schools' share fell to 34.5%, and aided schools' share declined to less than 1%.
The pupil-teacher ratio improved from 27 students per teacher in 2016-17 to 21 in 2025-26, reflecting the growth in teacher numbers relative to student enrolment.
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