Despite improvements in teacher numbers and enrolment rates, India continues to face significant hurdles in keeping children in school, prompting calls for increased investment in human capital to realise its 2047 development ambitions.
India’s ambition to become a developed nation by 2047 depends as much on classrooms and laboratories as it does on roads, ports and digital networks. Santosh Kumar Mohapatra argues that the real test is whether the country is investing enough in the people expected to carry it there, and the latest education data suggests the answer is still mixed. Official UDISE+ figures for 2025–26 show both progress and persistent weakness: while the system has improved in several areas, the long-term challenge of keeping children in school remains substantial.
The most striking warning sign in the data is retention. Mohapatra points to UDISE+ 2025–26 to note that only 51.9% of students who start Class 1 stay in school until Class 12. Other reports on the same ministry dataset highlight a more encouraging side of the picture, with dropout rates falling to 1.8% at the preparatory stage and 7% at secondary level. That contrast suggests the system is improving at later stages while still losing too many children across the full school journey.
The official school census also shows gains in capacity. According to analyses of the Ministry of Education’s database, India now has more than 1.02 crore teachers, with one report putting the figure at 1.03 crore, and the pupil-teacher ratio is now within the National Education Policy norm of 30:1 across school stages. The secondary gross enrolment ratio has risen to 71.7%, up from 68.5% the previous year, while girls account for 48.4% of total enrolment. These are notable advances, but they do not erase deeper gaps in access, continuity and quality.
Mohapatra also places India’s education debate in the wider language of institutions and human capability. Drawing on Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson’s argument in Why Nations Fail, he says durable prosperity comes from inclusive, accountable institutions rather than from geography or natural wealth alone. He pairs that with Amartya Sen’s view that development means expanding human freedoms, not simply lifting GDP. In that frame, education and healthcare are not optional welfare measures but the core conditions that allow people to participate fully in economic life.
The fiscal numbers underline why the argument carries weight. Mohapatra says central government spending on education has slipped from 0.55% of GDP in 2014–15 to 0.41% in 2023–24, with further declines projected in later years, far below the 6% of GDP recommended by the Kothari Commission and below the 4.4% global average he cites. He also notes that gross expenditure on research and development has reached 0.84% of GDP, still short of the global average of about 1.2% and well below India’s stated target of 2% by 2035. For a country that wants to turn its demographic advantage into lasting prosperity, the message is clear: more children must stay in school, more graduates must find meaningful work and public investment in human capital must rise fast enough to match the scale of the ambition.
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