Jaipur, July 10 -- Rajasthan has improved school infrastructure but only 51.8% of children entering Class 1 continue till Class 12, according to the 2025-26 UDISE+ report released by the Union ministry of education. Education experts attributed the trend to poor learning outcomes, changing demographics and students moving away from formal schooling. UDISE+ stands for the Unified District Information System for Education Plus. The data reveals that for every 100 students who enrol in class 1, only 51.8% complete their schooling till class 12 while 48.2% do not continue till Class 12. This is comparable to the national retention rate of 51.9%. As per the report, at the foundational level (classes 1 and 2), the retention rate is 93.2%. At the preparatory level (classes 3 to 5), the rate falls to 82.5%. It further declines to 77% at the middle school level (classes 6 to 8) The retention rate falls by over 25 percentage points to 51.8% at secondary level (classes 9 to 12), pointing to challenges in access, affordability and social factors at the secondary level. The gaps in retention and learning remain even as NEP 2020 emphasises on improving critical thinking, problem-solving skills and learning outcomes. The report notes that infrastructure in government schools has improved, but learning and retention remain challenges. It shows that 99.20% schools have drinking water, 92.24% have electricity, and 94.2% have toilets for girl students. Experts pointed to several reasons for the gap including students leaving school to enrol in private schools, accessibility to higher level schools in rural areas, girls dropping out due to safety concerns or marriage, boys taking up jobs and migration. The statistics have changed little over the 2024-25 numbers. The retention rate in the last report at the foundational level was 89.6%, 83.1% at the preparatory stage, 75.7% at the middle and 51.9% at the secondary stage. Educationist Kulbhushan Kothari emphasised on improving quality of education. "The fundamental reason for decrease in the retention rate is that the quality of learning outcomes in government schools is poor." "Parents of children from poor backgrounds, who are around 40% in government schools, cannot afford to shift to private schools. They see no value in continuing education in the government school, so they remove their child from school and engage them in remunerative activities." Kothari, managing trustee of the Rajasthan unit of the NGO Pratham, said, the ASER reports brought out by Pratham have repeatedly highlighted learning gaps, with many Class 8 students struggling with foundational reading and arithmetic skills. He pointed out that children could be opting for other vocational courses or learning new skills which were job-oriented and would ensure them a livelihood and called for a restructuring of the curriculum and linking it to employment. Educationist and activist Vijay Goyal contended that the government was slowly withdrawing from public education. "The National Education Policy provides opportunities for extensive privatisation of schooling. The government wants to shift the burden of education to private sector and enrolment in government schools is falling while it is rising in private sector," he said. The UDISE+ data shows that 47.56% students are enrolled in government schools as against 51.65% in private schools while 0.8% students are in schools in the other category. For 2025-26, government schools enrolment stood at 7.45 million and in private schools, it was 8.38 million. The report also pointed to a decline in school enrolment of students in the state. The intake fell by 840,000 over two years. The total enrolment fell from 16.7 million in 2023-24 to 16.3 million in 2024-25 and further to 15.9 million in 2025-26. HT reached out to school education minister Madan Dilawar but he was unavailable for comment....