Hyderabad, Feb. 5 -- Over the past five years, government schools in India have declined to 18,727, while private unaided schools have astonishingly risen by 8,475 in just one year.

This data was shared by the Union Minister of Education, Jayant Chaudhary, in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, February 4.

He was replying to a question by Communist Party of India (Marxist) MP John Brittas, who sought details about the number of government schools currently functioning and closed in the country.

Brittas had asked for state-wise figures for the last five years, how many private schools opened during the same period and enrolment data of government schools at the time of closure.

Chaudhary told the Upper House that government schools in India h...