Ludhiana, Aug. 30 -- Government schools in Punjab have recorded a worrying decline in enrolment, with more than 1.5 lakh fewer students on the rolls this year compared to the last session, according to the Union education ministry's Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+) survey report for 2024-25. The report highlights that the total enrolment across state-run schools fell from 28.23 lakh in 2023-24 to 26.69 lakh in the 2024-25 academic session, raising questions over the challenges faced by public education despite ongoing reforms. The sharpest fall has been reported at the elementary levels, where elementary classes (1 to 8) alone saw a decline of 1,06,742 students. Secondary classes (9 and 10) recorded the smallest drop with 6,725 fewer students compared to last year (see box). Beyond enrolment, the UDISE report has thrown light on infrastructure gaps as well. Punjab has a total of 19,081 government schools for girls and co-education, but 300 of these still do not have functional toilets for girls. Out of 19,243 government schools in total, 14 still lack electricity connections, while only 19,235 have a functioning drinking water facility. Another area of concern is the existence of single-teacher schools. Out of 27,281 schools in the state, 2,431 are run by just one teacher, managing an enrolment of 76,942 students. The educators have raised the concern many times and warned that such circumstances directly affect the quality of learning and teacher-student interaction, along with overburdening the teacher, who manages academic and non-academic activities alone. Yet, there are some bright spots. Punjab continues to record one of the lowest drop-out rates in the country, with only 2.5% at the primary level and 2.7% at the upper primary level. The survey also found that 95.6% of government schools were equipped with functional desktops, a step forward in bridging the digital gap. Reacting to the report, school education administrative secretary Anindita Mitra said the data reflected the previous year's situation. "Since January 2025, we have already intensified the enrolment campaign and tracked every student who left government schools to understand the reasons. We are comparing the numbers in the state with that of previous year's and have found an increase, as per the state education department's report. Almost all schools now have electricity connections, functional toilets and basic infrastructure. There may still be a few left out, but we are addressing these gaps and the results will reflect positively in the next survey," she assured....