Jaipur, February 16: Under the leadership of Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma, Rajasthan is witnessing significant changes in its education sector. According to the state’s economic review for 2025-26, there has been a reduction in dropout rates, alongside improvements in transition rates at various educational levels. The budget for 2026-27 has also made substantial provisions for quality, employment-oriented, and innovation-based education.

The economic review indicates that the transition rate from secondary to higher secondary levels has increased from 82.6% in 2023-24 to 88.2% in 2024-25. Similarly, the transition rate from primary to upper primary levels has risen from 90.7% to 93.8%. Notably, there has been a significant decrease in dropout rates: from 7.6% to 3.6% at the primary level, from 6.8% to 3.6% at the upper primary level, and from 11.1% to 7.7% at the secondary level.

For the budget year 2026-27, over ₹21,646 crore has been allocated for primary education and more than ₹19,473 crore for secondary education. This includes over ₹13,767 crore for primary education and over ₹2,821 crore for secondary education under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan.

Additionally, ₹1,250 crore has been earmarked for reimbursement of tuition fees for private schools under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, along with over ₹434 crore for the PM SHRI scheme.

To enhance transparency and timeliness in distributing tablets/laptops, bicycles, and uniforms to students, a Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) and e-voucher system will be implemented. Selected meritorious students in classes 8, 10, and 12 will receive assistance of up to ₹20,000 through e-vouchers for purchasing tablets or laptops. Similarly, needy girls entering class 9 will be provided e-vouchers for bicycles, with a target to benefit approximately 3.90 lakh girls under the free bicycle distribution scheme. Over ₹250 crore will be allocated through DBT for providing free uniforms to more than 40 lakh needy students from classes 1 to 8.

Under the free textbook distribution scheme, over 4 crore textbooks were distributed to approximately 80 lakh students during the 2025-26 academic session. The budget for 2026-27 has allocated ₹150 crore for classes 1 to 8 and ₹90 crore for secondary education. To promote vocational education, 500 additional schools will introduce vocational courses in the upcoming session, with over ₹51 crore allocated for this initiative. Programs such as ‘School to Work’ in each district, ‘School on Wheels’ for nomadic communities, space galleries in Jaipur and Jodhpur, and AI-based personalized learning labs in a thousand schools have also been initiated.

Furthermore, ₹1,000 crore has been allocated for the phased upgradation of 400 schools to ‘CM Rise’ schools. The state government believes that these initiatives will enhance the quality, accessibility, and employability of education in the state, preparing capable human resources to meet future needs.

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