SDG 4: Quality Education | SDG 5: Gender Equality | SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth | SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
Ministry of Finance | Ministry of Education | NITI Aayog
The Economic Survey 2025-2026 characterizes education as the “core pillar of human capital,” essential for steering India toward its Viksit Bharat @2047 vision. The Survey emphasizes that consistent investment in education, skills, and technology is critical to enhancing productivity and accelerating economic transformation, drawing parallels to the growth trajectories of fast-growing Asian economies. To fully realize its human potential, the Survey argues that India must adopt a holistic, lifecycle approach that integrates early childhood care, foundational literacy, and universal secondary schooling with vocational and digital skills.
Achievements in School and Higher Education
India now operates one of the world’s largest education systems, showing significant gains in infrastructure and enrollment:
School System Scale: The country serves 24.69 crore students across 14.71 lakh schools, supported by a workforce of over 1.01 crore teachers (UDISE+ 2024-25).
Enrollment Milestones: The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) has reached near-universal levels at the primary (90.9) and upper primary (90.3) stages. Efforts are ongoing to bridge gaps at the secondary (78.7) and higher secondary (58.4) levels.
Institutional Expansion: The number of higher education institutions (HEIs) has grown significantly, from 51,534 in 2014-15 to 70,018 as of June 2025. India now has 23 IITs, 21 IIMs, and 20 AIIMS, including new international IIT campuses in Zanzibar and Abu Dhabi.
NEP 2020 Reforms and Digital Integration
The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 remains the primary driver of innovation and equity in the sector:
Flexible Pathways: 153 universities have introduced biannual admissions and flexible entry-exit pathways to meet the 50% Higher Education GER target by 2035.
Academic Bank of Credits (ABC): Over 4.6 crore Student IDs have been issued, covering 2,660 institutions to facilitate credit portability.
Early Childhood Care: To create a unified system, 2,99,544 Anganwadi Centres have been co-located in schools, strengthening the Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) framework.
Vocational Exposure: The Survey advocates for structured skilling pathways in secondary schools to provide early exposure to employable competencies and transform schools into hubs of lifelong learning.
What is the “Expected Years of Schooling” (EYS) target mentioned in the Survey? The Expected Years of Schooling (EYS) is a measure of the total number of years of schooling a child of a certain age can expect to receive. The Economic Survey 2025-26 highlights that to convert its vast human resource base into high-quality human capital, India needs to raise its EYS to the 15-year benchmark set by the NEP’s 5+3+3+4 schooling structure (covering ages 3 to 18). This transition is viewed as vital for matching the human capital standards of developed nations.
Policy Relevance
The Survey signals a transition from “access” to “quality and relevance” in human capital development.
Skill-Education Integration: By embedding skilling into the secondary curriculum, the policy aims to bridge the gap between academic learning and market-ready employability.
Internationalization of HEIs: The establishment of foreign campuses and dual-degree programs with global universities (with 15 foreign HEIs expected to set up in India) positions India as a global talent hub.
Equitable Governance: Strengthening infrastructure through schemes like Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan and involving communities in governance is designed to ensure that the “Viksit Bharat” journey is inclusive across remote and underserved areas.
Relevant Question for Policy Stakeholders: How can the data from the 4.6 crore Academic Bank of Credit IDs be leveraged to create a “National Skill Mapping” database that aligns higher education enrollment with the labor market needs of emerging sectors like Green Hydrogen and AI?
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