Jaipur, July 9 (IANS) Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Thursday criticised the BJP-led state government over the condition of government schools, citing UDISE+ data that shows a decline of over 8.4 lakh students in school enrolment across Rajasthan over the past two years. According to the UDISE+ (Unified District Information System for Education Plus) report, Rajasthan has witnessed a steady fall in school enrolment over the last two academic sessions.

Gehlot claimed that, for the first time in the state's history, enrolment in private schools has exceeded that in government schools, calling it a reflection of the declining public trust in the government education system. "It is deeply concerning that Rajasthan has witnessed over 8.4 lakh school dropouts in just two years under the BJP government. For the first time in history, enrollment in private schools has surpassed that of government schools. This is direct evidence of the declining reputation of the state's government schools," Gehlot said. "Ironically, while the number of teachers rose from 7.8 lakh to over 7.9 lakh during this period, government schools lost more than 9.3 lakh students due to mismanagement. Today, it is not just the roofs of schools in Rajasthan that are collapsing; the public's long-standing faith in the government education system is crumbling as well," he said.

Blaming the state government for the decline, Gehlot said assigning non-academic duties to teachers, deteriorating school infrastructure, delays in repair and maintenance works, and the politicisation of education had adversely affected learning. "Assigning non-academic duties to teachers, the deterioration of school infrastructure, stalled repairs, and the constant politicization of the curriculum, rather than focusing on educational improvement, are the causes of this decline. When the Education Minister's attention is focused on everything except education, such a situation was inevitable," he said.

Defending the education initiatives introduced during the previous Congress government, Gehlot claimed that the BJP administration had weakened reforms that had strengthened public education. "The excellent government education model established by our Congress government, including English-medium schools, has been completely ruined by this government's shortsightedness. Chief Minister, who is responsible for the future being snatched away from the children of Rajasthan?" he asked. As per the UDISE+ report, Rajasthan's total school enrolment declined from 1.67 crore in 2023-24 to 1.63 crore in 2024-25 and further to 1.59 crore in 2025, amounting to a cumulative drop of more than 8.4 lakh students over two years. The Rajasthan government had not issued an official response to Gehlot's allegations at the time of filing this report.