India, Feb. 1 -- India's school dropout rates have steadily declined across all levels, but student retention remains a significant challenge with less than half of students completing higher secondary education, according to the Economic Survey 2024-25 tabled in Parliament on Friday.

The survey found dropout rates of 1.9% for primary (Classes I to V), 5.2% for upper primary (Classes VI to VIII), and 14.1% for secondary levels (Classes IX to XII). However, retention rates - the proportion of children who remained enrolled since the first grade - paint a more complex picture: it was 85.4% for primary, dropping to 78% for elementary, 63.8% for secondary, and just 45.6% for higher secondary levels.

These figures come as India's massive sch...