The enrolment of children in government schools in the age category (6-14) dropped from 64.5 per cent to 44.5 per cent between 2022 and 2024 in Kerala, according to the latest Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), a nationwide household survey done by an NGO. The survey generates district, state, and national-level estimates of the enrollment status of 3 to 16-year-old children and basic reading and arithmetic skills.

 The General Education Department recorded a dip of 6,928 students who took class-1 admission in government schools in the 2024-25 academic year when compared to 2023-24, according to the figures presented by Education Minister V Sivankutty in the assembly in 2024. As many as 99,566 students got admission in 2023-24, and in 2024-25, the number was 92,638.

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Kerala recorded a dip in the percentage of children aged 15-16 who were not enrolled in school. In 2018, 0.9 per cent of children in the age group 15-16 were enrolled in school, which came down to 0.3 per cent in 2024. In 2024, the State Child Rights Commission sought a report from the government on the declining student numbers in state-run schools, despite significant infrastructure development.

In response, the department attributed the fall in enrolment to declining birth rates. Education Minister V Sivankutty had stated that while there has been a fall in enrolments for Class 1, this trend reflects the overall decline in Kerala's population and that there has been an increase in students joining Classes 2 to 10 in government schools.

"The students who joined Class 1 this year were born in 2019. While the state reported 5.5 lakh births in 2009, this number fell to 4.8 lakh in 2019. Over ten years, the annual number of students has declined by 78,000, which naturally affects Class 1 enrolments," the Minister said.

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