Critically evaluate India's progress in achieving SDG-4 in light of UDISE+ findings on dropout, GER, and pupil-teacher ratios.

SDG-4 commits nations to inclusive, equitable and quality education for all by 2030 [3]. UDISE+ 2025-26, covering 1.47 million schools and 24.72 crore students, shows India advancing impressively on access indicators — but the gains are aggregate, not equally distributed.

Where progress is real

• Retention (Target 4.1): secondary dropout fell from 8.2% to 7.0%, and middle-to-secondary transition rose from 86.6% to 88.3% [1].
• Participation: secondary GER climbed to 71.7% from 68.5%; girls form 48.4% of enrolment and women 54.9% of teachers, indicating near gender parity (Target 4.5) [1].
• Teacher supply (Target 4.c): stage-wise PTR of 10/12/17/21 is comfortably within NEP 2020's 30:1 norm [1][2]; single-teacher and zero-enrolment schools both declined.
• Learning environment (Target 4.a): 95% of schools have electricity, 98.5% girls' toilets, and computer access rose from 64.7% to 69.9% [1].

Where equity lags

• Regional divergence: Aadhaar seeding ranges from 99.6% in Andhra Pradesh to just 35% in Meghalaya against a 90.2% national average, risking DBT scholarship exclusion in hill and tribal states [4].
• Digital divide: roughly one in three schools still lacks internet, blunting NEP 2020's digital-equity promise [1].
• Stage-wise erosion: transition falls from 99.2% (foundational) to 88.3% (secondary) [1] — dropout concentrates precisely where household opportunity cost peaks.
• Quality blind spot: UDISE+ captures enrolment and inputs, not learning; SDG-4.1 demands effective learning outcomes, and 71.7% GER remains distant from NEP's 100% target by 2030 [2][3].

India's SDG-4 record is therefore strong on access and teacher availability, uneven in distribution, and unproven on learning. Saturating internet connectivity and Aadhaar seeding in lagging states via Samagra Shiksha, using PGI 2.0 to hold states accountable, and targeting secondary-stage retention can convert this quantitative expansion into the equitable, quality education that Article 21A and SDG-4 envisage.